Racial Oppression In Native Son Essay

Racial Oppression in Native Son
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” (BrainyQuote). Throughout history, multiple races have faced oppression and discrimination from a self-titled “dominant” race. Despite fighting for equality and resisting this harsh treatment, racism is still prevalent. The effects of this abuse negatively shapes and influences a person’s life, and drastically adds stress to their lives. In Native Son, the author Richard Wright uses Bigger Thomas as a symbol of the effects of racial oppression and what it does to the human psyche.
In the novel, Wright depicts Bigger as a violent and rash character. He accidentally kills Mary and instinctively

He acts very submissively towards the white people in his life. When Bigger is first introduced to Mr. Dalton, he is very tense and shy. His conversation with his employer lacks much emotion: “‘Well, I’m Mr. Dalton.’ ‘Yessuh.’ ‘Do you think you’d like driving a car?’ ‘Oh, yessuh.’ Did you bring the paper?’ ‘Suh?’ ‘Didn’t the relief give you a note to me?’ ‘Oh, yessuh’” (47). He sounds very stiff and uncomfortable. In other instances, when Bigger interacts with his friends, we see that he behaves normally around them. Contrastly, he is extremely uncomfortable around Mary, and especially Jan. Both Mary and her boyfriend are ignorant to Bigger’s discomfort when they try to befriend him: “Bigger extended a limp palm, his mouth open in astonishment. He felt Jan’s fingers tighten about his own. He tried to pull his hand away, ever so gently, but Jan held on, firmly, smiling” (66). Although Mary and Jan have pure intentions, Bigger is not used to this type of treatment from white people. Facing years of harsh oppression have conditioned him into being uncomfortable around white people in general, even when they genuinely sympathize with