Reading Response of Native Son
Heath LyBrand
Readers Response
Native Son
Native Son is a story about an African American boy that has grown up in a poverty stricken area, and lived in the shadow of the successful white community. The narrator of the story is Bigger; which is an angry boy that has been created to hold a grudge of hate towards the white community. Wright depicts Bigger as this angry boy that has been molded by racist propaganda on the 1930’s along with the oppression of African Americans during this time period. Bigger grew up with an overwhelming hate for the white community and along side that hate was an equal amount of fear. The narrator gets hired by a wealthy family to be a shofar of sorts to the family. Bigger is not happy with being bossed around like this, but tucks his pride in and carries on with the job. Bigger is not seen by the white community as an individual but as part of a group inferior to their own, but on the contrary Bigger does not see whites as individuals and sees all of them as being un-trustworthy. Wright is depicting a typical angry African American boy of the time that has grown up seeing movies with sophisticated whites and savage blacks as their counterpoints. Bigger carries on through the story with his hate stirring against the white community, which is heighten when bigger accidently kills Mary. Bigger goes on with life after chopping the body up and stuffing it in the furnace, and returns to the house after the missing reports are out because he does not think the white family will accuse Bigger of such a crime because he is not smart enough to carry out such an act of violence. Wright’s main focus of the novel is to bring attention to the overwhelming racism placed on African Americans of the time, but to also draw attention to how the white community is breeding this racism through its propaganda. Bigger grew up with no other choice but to become the criminal he formed into because there was no other option placed before African
Readers Response
Native Son
Native Son is a story about an African American boy that has grown up in a poverty stricken area, and lived in the shadow of the successful white community. The narrator of the story is Bigger; which is an angry boy that has been created to hold a grudge of hate towards the white community. Wright depicts Bigger as this angry boy that has been molded by racist propaganda on the 1930’s along with the oppression of African Americans during this time period. Bigger grew up with an overwhelming hate for the white community and along side that hate was an equal amount of fear. The narrator gets hired by a wealthy family to be a shofar of sorts to the family. Bigger is not happy with being bossed around like this, but tucks his pride in and carries on with the job. Bigger is not seen by the white community as an individual but as part of a group inferior to their own, but on the contrary Bigger does not see whites as individuals and sees all of them as being un-trustworthy. Wright is depicting a typical angry African American boy of the time that has grown up seeing movies with sophisticated whites and savage blacks as their counterpoints. Bigger carries on through the story with his hate stirring against the white community, which is heighten when bigger accidently kills Mary. Bigger goes on with life after chopping the body up and stuffing it in the furnace, and returns to the house after the missing reports are out because he does not think the white family will accuse Bigger of such a crime because he is not smart enough to carry out such an act of violence. Wright’s main focus of the novel is to bring attention to the overwhelming racism placed on African Americans of the time, but to also draw attention to how the white community is breeding this racism through its propaganda. Bigger grew up with no other choice but to become the criminal he formed into because there was no other option placed before African