Essay Topic:

The description of the poverty and hatred black people lived back in the 1930’s.

Essay Questions:

In what way does Richard Wright’s novel “Native Son” describe the life of black people back in 1930’s? How do fear, fight and fate reveal the life of African-Americans in 1930’s? How did the “hateful mass” influence the life of African-Americanism 1930’s?

Thesis Statement:

The reader sees the truth of the character’s life “nude”, without any covers on it, he can smell the dirt and feel the hopeless poverty.

“Native Son” by Richard Wright essay

 

“…In all of his life these two murders were the most meaningful

things that had ever happened to him…”

Introduction: Richard Wright’s novel "Native Son” is one of the best descriptions of the life of black people back in 1930’s. The author has made an outstanding literature work revealing to the reader the racist persecutions of the blacks with the help of naturalism. Naturalism in this book is seen through showing the reality just as it is, without any “embellishments”. The reader sees the truth of the character’s life “nude”, without any covers on it, he can smell the dirt and feel the hopeless poverty. From the very beginning the influence of naturalism on this book can be easily observed. The author does not give the reader even a tiny hope that he will get an “illusion” of happiness he so much used to.

The novel consists of three parts: “Fear”, “Fight”, and “Fate”. This structure, used by Wright, is very suitable for the use of naturalism in his novel. As it is known, naturalism examines the world around as a formation that does not care for people and everything that they might need in their lives. It functions like a machine on a certain algorithm. It has no other goal but functioning but it anyways influence the lives, because there is nothing they can do about it. It is important to draw a parallel between this machine-like functioning and the scheme into which Wright put his novel. It also appears to be an algorithm, but it is an algorithm of life a black man back then. This scheme is used to intensify the influence of the indifferent environment on the life of a man. One first fears the environment, then tries to fight it and then still he comes to his fate, predetermined by the power that environment has over people. In the beginning of the novel we see how he kills a rat that he got scared of. This rat as if it was a man that has no choice finally accept its death because it has nowhere to run away. It is a very naturalistic description that has a very deep meaning concerning Bigger’s life. This His fears grew up with him in the image of white people, something he could never be and all the things he could never achieve: “…Was what he had heard about rich white people really true? Was he going to work for people like you saw in the movies…?”.[Wright 1 -1] “If you break the law, you can’t win!”[Wright 1-1] - says the poster Bigger sees and it really makes the reader feel how the conditions do put Bigger in the situation of crime and how he will never be able to win through his whole life. Through this his fear transforms into his inevitable fate. The reader perceives the main character Bigger as a man that will never be able to change anything in his life due to his subordination to the world around him. Nevertheless, we observe a change in him after the commits two murderers. “…He had done this. He had brought all this about. In all of his life these two murders were the most meaningful things that had ever happened to him”[Wright 2-3]. Through this murderers Bigger at least feels that he can “change something”, that he posses some power, he can be the one to “decide”. He feels himself different, he feels himself worthy. And unexpectedly it makes the reader feel sorry for him, to be sorry for a man whose only opportunity to become “somebody” and not “something” was only through this murders. We see later, that he is being helped by Jan, Mary’s boyfriend.

Conclusion: This help comes form a white man being that should have hated him but understood him. His views on white people change. They stop being a “hateful mass” for him. The reader understands that his death could have been eluded if he lived in another society, and in a society where racism is an “adequate” phenomenon. This novel touched me to the very core because I imagined millions of lives similar to Bigger’s life. I saw people suffering from their own environment, being slaves of their stereotypes and public opinion and hopelessness that lived in the hearts of people. Our society should not complain about things it formed by being the way it is. It should change and help people realize themselves no matter what color skin they are.

Bibliography:

“Native Son” by Richard Wright/ Perennial/1987/