The Native Son, By Bigger Thomas

738 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does socioeconomic status affect child development

In the late 1930’s, the era the Native Son was written, African American men and women were considered outcasts and were constantly treated differently. They were not able to get the benefits and opportunities that white people had unlimited access to. They’re oppressed and were almost seen as worthless as dogs. African Americans could only handle so much of this discrimination, eventually some were pushed past their limit of control. In the story, of the Native Son, Bigger Thomas is seen as full of anger and hate. He let the discrimination get to him and he committed unforgiveable actions. He lost his control. In this paper I will look at how Bigger Thomas is treated in his social class and how these classes affected his actions. Bigger Thomas was just like every other person with dreams; he wanted so dearly to be an aviator. “I wanted to be an aviator once. But they wouldn’t let me go to the school where I was supposed to learn it. They built a big school and then drew a line around it and said that nobody could go to it but those who lived within the line. That kept all the colored boys out.” (p.213) Unfortunately, there were social classes that were set that kept him from being able to achieve that dream. “Bigger hates whites who prevented him from having a good life. He was not allowed to attend the aviation school.” (Latifa, 2012) The social classes that were set had white people over African American people, so racism is a really big part in how these classes were formed. “Yeah,” Bigger said, wistfully. “They get a chance to do everything.” (p.22) Since Bigger wasn’t at the opportunity of being able to be an aviator, he had to go in a search for a job. He ended up working for the Dalton family. He did not like his job ... ... middle of paper ... ... to Bessie, to even considering the thought of killing himself. The feeling never actually leaves him. It frightens him, and I don’t think it would be so bad if it weren’t for the discrimination and segregation. The social classes are so easy to set upon the color of your skin. Black people get the scraps while the White people bask in their privileges. They get to follow their dreams and achieve their goals, unlike the people in Bigger’s community. The separation of where they live and the conditions is very obvious. The jobs pay more for the White people, where Black people would end up with jobs no one wanted, and then have to pay more for rent than any White person would. The oppression surpassed Bigger Thomas’s limit and caused him to commit actions he didn’t intentionally want to happen. He was an angry man and was only noticed the second he was out of line.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Richard Wright's Native Son

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Richard Wright’s Native Son, Bigger Thomas attempts to gain power over his environment through violence whenever he is in a position to do so.

    Read More

  • Native Son Hierarchies

    2066 Words  | 5 Pages

    Older and modern societies tend to have organized castes and hierarchies designed to encompass everyone in society. This is demonstrated in Richard Wright’s acclaimed novel, Native Son. The novel follows the life of a twenty year old African American man named Bigger Thomas, and his experiences living as a black man in 1930s Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately, he commits two unlawful killings of women, mostly as a result of the pressure and paranoia that had been following him from a young age. He is tried and convicted of the deaths, and is sentenced to die as a result.

    Read More

  • A child Called It by Dave Pelzer

    2130 Words  | 5 Pages

    One Child’s Courage to Survive. “ A Child Called It ” Abstract This is one of the best, yet saddest books that I have ever read. There are so many bad things out there that are happening to good people. We just have no idea.

    Read More

  • Children of the Forest by Kevin Duffy

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Children of the Forest" is a narrative written by Kevin Duffy. This book is a written testament of an anthropologist's everyday dealings with an African tribe by the name of the Mbuti Pygmies. My purpose in this paper is to inform the reader of Kevin Duffy's findings while in the Ituri rainforest. Kevin Duffy is one of the first and only scientists to have ever been in close contact with the Mbuti. If an Mbuti tribesman does not want to be found, they simply won't be. The forest in which the Mbuti reside in are simply too dense and dangerous for humans not familiar with the area to enter.

    Read More

  • A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    1. In the book, the father tries to help the son in the beginning but then throughout the book he stops trying to help and listens to the mother. If I had been in this same situation, I would have helped get the child away from his mother because nobody should have to live like that. The father was tired of having to watch his son get abused so eventually he just left and didn’t do anything. David thought that his father would help him but he did not.

    Read More

  • Baldwin's Perspective in Notes of a Native Son

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Notes of a Native Son” is faceted with many ideas and arguments. The essay begins with Baldwin recounting July 29, 1943. The day his father died and his mother bore her last child (63). Baldwin shares his fathers’ past and of the hate and bitterness that filled him and how Baldwin realizes that it may soon fill him also. Baldwin spends the rest of the essay mostly analyzing his experiences and the behavior and mentality of his father, of whom he seemed to dislike. He comes to the conclusion that one must hold true two ideas: “. . . acceptance, totally without rancor, of life as it is and men as they are: in light of this idea... injustice is...

    Read More

  • Black Boy by Richard Wright

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    Required to remain quiet while his grandmother lies ill in bed, four-year-old richard wright becomes bored and begins playing with fire near the curtains, leading to his accidentally burning down the family home in Natchez, Mississippi. In fear, Richard hides under the burning house. His father, retrieves him from his hiding place. Then, his mother ella beats him so severely that he loses consciousness and falls ill.

    Read More

  • Devoya Draft

    1250 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ed. He had to cover his eyes and his mother and sister dress out of respect. To understand Bigger is to understand his mindset, and I agree with the critic when he goes to explain there is nothing to do with the environment but the way that you react with being in that environment. Biggers hardship truly made it easier to understand the way that a black male thinks while not have a male role model or support from your mother in these times encouraging him to be the best man that he can but being hard on him to be the man that she believed that men of Biggers race she be, act and the thing that Bigger does. Everything has a reason but once you’re pushed to the edge there is nothing left to do but jump of move aside and let the other person fall. In this case Bigger fell because his mind wasn’t strong enough to understand that he could go about things differently.

    Read More

  • Alondra Martinez

    1512 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Native Son by Richard Wright, Mr. Wright lived in the 1930s and experienced how African Americans were unfairly treated and the extreme poverty that still happens in South Side Chicago. The way Mr. Wright grew up into all the poverty, violence, and being discriminated against placed himself into Bigger Thomas shoes and how handled everything the way he was living with despair. That’s how Mr. Wright sets a psychoanalytic theory in his writing of how he portrays Bigger Thomas, he is self-conscious of his actions and how he wishes to hurt some but doesn’t believe he can bring himself to do that. Bigger Thomas despises the way he lives and how the white people have control over his life but sooner or later he does something that makes him feel superior and equal to a white person.

    Read More

  • Bigger Thomas as America’s Native Son

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel the Native Son, the author Richard Wright explores racism and oppression in American society. Wright skillfully merges his narrative voice into Bigger Thomas so that the reader can also feel how the pressure and racism affects the feelings, thoughts, self-image, and life of a Negro person. Bigger is a tragic product of American imperialism and exploitation in a modern world. Bigger embodies one of humankind’s greatest tragedies of how mass oppression permeates all aspects of the lives of the oppressed and the oppressor, creating a world of misunderstanding, ignorance, and suffering.

    Read More

  • My Fathers By Luis Omar Salinas And Maya Angelou

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    The two poems I will be discussing are My fathers is a simple man and Life doesn't frighten me. The authors of the poems are Luis Omar Salinas and Maya Angelou. The overall message that both poems are trying to get us the readers to understand is life is not always easy. Life throws things at you when you least expect it at times it would be good things or bad things. But we'll both poems are pretty much saying is that no matter what life throws at you and the obstacles you're going to face in life never give up don't let life itself let you fall don't let life itself let you feel like you can't do anything or be somebody because if you try so hard to make your life easier it's only going to get harder.

    Read More

  • A Child Called It By Dave Pelzer

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    A Child Called "It", by Dave Pelzer, is a first person narrative of a child’s struggle through a traumatic abused childhood. The book begins with Dave telling us about his last day at his Mother’s house before he was taken away by law enforcement. At first I could not understand why he had started at the end of his tale, but after reading the entire book it was clear to me that it was easier to read it knowing there indeed was a light at the end of the dark tunnel. This horrific account of extreme abuse leaves us with a great number of questions which unfortunately we do not have answers for. It tells us what happened to this little boy and that miraculously he was able to survive and live to see the day he left this hole which was his home, however, it does not tell us why or even give us a good amount of background with which to speculate the why to this abuse.

    Read More

  • Sympathy for a Murderer in Richard Wright's Native Son

    1011 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Native Son, Richard Wright introduces Bigger Thomas, a liar and a thief. Wright evokes sympathy for this man despite the fact that he commits two murders. Through the reactions of others to his actions and through his own reactions to what he has done, the author creates compassion in the reader towards Bigger to help convey the desperate state of Black Americans in the 1930’s.

    Read More

  • Alienation

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    The alienation of Bigger Thomas leads to his character development. He is primitive, fearful, and quick tempered because of the isolation and racism he faces. He is created by the society that he lives in; the environment surrounding him leads to his downfall. Bigger knows that he was dead from the day he was born, the “blind” people around him are either too fearful or ignorant to see it. He knows that what he has accidentally done can never be justified to whites; he wants to die knowing he is equal to his counterparts.

    Read More

  • The Style, Point of View, Form and Structure of Native Son, by Richard Wright

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    In his novel, Native Son, Richard Wright favors short, simple, blunt sentences that help maintain the quick narrative pace of the novel, at least in the first two books. For example, in the following passage: "He licked his lips; he was thirsty. He looked at his watch; it was ten past eight. He would go to the kitchen and get a drink of water and then drive the car out of the garage. " Wright's imagery is often brutal and elemental, as seen in his frequently repeated references to fire, snow, and Mary's bloody head.

    Read More

More about The Native Son, By Bigger Thomas

Open Document