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Character Analysis Of Bigger Thomas In 'Native Son' By Richard Wright

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Character Analysis Of Bigger Thomas In 'Native Son' By Richard Wright
Surroundings shape everything; canyons and rivers could not have been shaped and formed without the constant stream of water. In "Native Son" by Richard Wright, the main character, Bigger Thomas, has his traits shaped and formed by the culture of oppression he lives in. The oppression towards people of his race, set in the 1930's, causes Bigger to develop certain attitudes and behaviors towards white people.

Bigger sees the world as a place he does now own; his surroundings tell him that white people "get a chance to do everything" (Wright 16) while he has a black man does not. Bigger sees white men and women owning businesses, determining his pay and rent, so, it is no surprise that he sees the place in which he lives in as a "white world" (Wright 18). Bigger becomes a hateful person due to the surroundings of superiority around him. White men and women having it easier then him just because of skin color fuels the hatred and causes him to live in fear. Bigger is fearful of white people and what they could do to him. When Bigger accidentally murders Mary it is done out of fear of what white people would do to him if someone …show more content…
Even if people who come from a side labeled as the enemy, in the novel's case white people, have genuine intentions their actions are misunderstood due to the amount of oppression and racism black people have received. Black people, as seen in Bigger's case, react in a way that they have learned to act in order to survive in that kind of a society. In the description on the back of the book, it says "right from the start" Bigger was going to go to jail. Anyone facing what Bigger did was bound to act in what is seen as a violent way and with no mercy from society. The story highlights the hopelessness an oppressed group of people feel just because of their surroundings shaped, still being relevant in todays
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