Richard Wright is the author of the novel, Native Son. By writing thenovel, he wanted to awaken America to the realities of the relationshipbetween blacks and whites in the controversial 1930s. When he wrotethis novel, it caused many disputes among Americans. Many peoplethought that some of the issues Wright included in his novel were notappropriate to write about. Richard Wright believed that even the badparts of America should be seen, though.
This story takes place in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1930s. Themain character is Bigger Thomas. He is a twenty year old black manwho lives in a one-room apartment with his mother, sister, and brother. The part of town they live in is infested with crime, and most of thebuildings are dilapidated. Bigger believes that he could never get far inlife because of his being an inferior black man in a white world.
Bigger wants to help support his family, so he decides to apply fora job as a chauffeur. He is hired by a millionaire named Henry Dalton,who allows Bigger to live in his house. Mr. Dalton and his wife, who isblind, always try to help their employees succeed in life. Everythinggoes well for a while until one night when Mr. Daltons teenagedaughter, Mary, gets drunk. Bigger carries Mary to her room after shefalls down while climbing the stairs.
While Bigger is in Marys room,Mrs. Dalton comes to check in on her. Although Mrs. Dalton wouldntbe able to see Bigger in Marys room, he is afraid that Mary might makea noise and Mrs. Dalton might think that he is raping her daughter. Inhis terror, Bigger covers Marys face with a pillow and accidentallyWhen Bigger sees that he killed Mary, he freaks out, chops up herbody with an ax, and hides it in the furnace downstairs. Although heacts out of fear and doesnt know what he is doing, Bigger still feels asense of control that hes never felt before. Bigger leads everyone tobelieve that Marys Communist friend, Jan, kidnapped her.
Nobodysuspects Bigger until one day, when the remains of her body are found inthe furnace. He gets his girlfriend, Bessie, involved to help him getmoney and run away, but he kills her to avoid betrayal. Bigger is finallycaught by the police and put on trial. During the course of the trial, he isamazed to find that Jan has forgiven him for all that he did. He cantbelieve that a white man actually treats him like a human being. Biggeris convicted of murder and ultimately pays with his life to learn that allI love this book! It shows the true story of how hard it can be tolive in a prejudiced society. This novel is full of suspense and is reallyable to stir up controversies within oneself.
