About Native Son

[The morning]

Native Son
by Richard Wright




About the book

Impoverished, angry, and poorly educated, Bigger Thomas drifts around the seedy South Side of Chicago until he finds work chauffeuring a wealthy, liberal white family named the Daltons. On his first evening of work, Bigger drives the Daltons' college-age daughter Mary and her Communist boyfriend Jan Erlone around town while the two of them get drunk. Bigger carries the intoxicated Mary to her bedroom and becomes sexually aroused while putting her to bed; when Mrs. Dalton, who is blind, comes to the door, Bigger silences Mary by covering her face with a pillow and inadvertently smothers her to death. He burns her corpse in the furnace and desperately tries to destroy evidence of the crime and frame Erlone for it, but when a reporter discovers Mary's bones in the furnace, the police quickly close in on Bigger and take him to jail.

The final section of the book recounts Bigger's trial. His lawyer, Boris Max, pleads that Bigger is not responsible for his violent actions because social forces drove him to crime, and he urges the judge to spare Bigger the death penalty. The state's prosecutor responds that Bigger is a cold-hearted, depraved criminal and must die as the law requires. The judge rules for the prosecution and sentences Bigger to death. In the final scene, Max attempts to console Bigger, but Bigger rebuffs him. "What I killed for, I am!" Bigger insists, and Max leaves him to his fate

[maged-syrian]

Seems an interesting tale,
I'll try to get it and read it in my spare time,
Thanks

[The morning]

كاتب النص الأصلي : maged-syrian

Seems an interesting tale,
I'll try to get it and read it in my spare time,
Thanks

it is one of those books that i was up reading them all night to know what is going to happened after, I didnt like the ending though. It was not fair, but i could not think of any other ending that could possibly fit .

[The morning]

Characters:

Bigger Thomas - The protagonist of Native Son. A poor, uneducated black man, Bigger comes from the lowest rung on the American social and economic ladder. As his lack of education has left him no option other than menial labor, he has felt trapped his whole life, resenting, hating, and fearing the whites who define the narrow confines of his existence. Bigger views white people as a collective, overwhelming force that tells him where to live, where to work, and what to do.

Mary Dalton - The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dalton, Bigger’s wealthy employers. Mary identifies herself as a progressive, dates an admitted communist, and interacts with Bigger with little regard for the strict boundary society imposes between black men and white women. Mary’s transgression of this boundary leads to her death and the resulting development of Bigger’s character.

Mr. and Mrs. Dalton - A white millionaire couple living in Chicago. Mrs. Dalton is blind; Mr. Dalton has earned a fortune in real estate. Although he profits from charging high rents to poor black tenants—including Bigger’s family—on Chicago’s South Side, he nonetheless claims to be a generous philanthropist and supporter of black Americans.

Jan Erlone - A member of the Communist Party and Mary Dalton’s boyfriend—a relationship that upsets Mary’s parents. Jan, like Mary, wants to treat Bigger as an equal, but such untraditional behavior only frightens and angers Bigger. Jan later recognizes his mistake in trying to treat Bigger this way and becomes sympathetic toward his plight. Jan becomes especially aware of the social divisions that prevent Bigger from relating normally with white society.

Boris A. Max - A Jewish lawyer who works for the Labor Defenders, an organization affiliated with the Communist Party. Max argues, based on a sociological analysis of American society, that institutionalized racism and prejudice—not inherent ethnic qualities—create conditions for violence in urban ghettos.

Bessie Mears - Bigger’s girlfriend. Their relationship remains quite distant and is largely based upon mutual convenience rather than romantic love.

Mrs. Thomas - Bigger’s devoutly religious mother. Mrs. Thomas has accepted her precarious, impoverished position in life and warns Bigger at the beginning of the novel that he will meet a bad end if he fails to change his ways.

Buddy Thomas - Bigger’s younger brother. Buddy, unlike his brother, does not rebel against his low position on the social ladder. In fact, he envies Bigger’s job as a chauffeur for a rich white family. As the novel progresses, however, Buddy begins to take on a more antagonistic attitude toward racial prejudice.

Vera Thomas - Bigger’s younger sister. Vera, like Bigger, lives her life in constant fear
.

G. H., Gus, and Jack - Bigger’s friends, who often plan and execute robberies together. G. H., Gus, and Jack hatch a tentative plan to rob a white shopkeeper, Mr. Blum, but they are afraid of the consequences if they should be caught robbing a white man. At the beginning of the novel, Bigger taunts his friends about their fear, even though he is just as terrified himself.

Mr. Blum - A white man who owns a delicatessen on the South Side of Chicago. Mr. Blum represents an inviting robbery target for Bigger and his friends, but their fear of the consequences of robbing a white man initially prevents them from following through on their plan.

Britten - A racist, anticommunist private investigator who helps Mr. Dalton investigate Mary’s disappearance.

Buckley - The incumbent State’s Attorney who is running for reelection. Buckley is viciously racist and anticommunist.

Peggy - An Irish immigrant who has worked as the Daltons’ cook for years. Peggy considers the Daltons to be marvelous benefactors to black Americans. Though she is actively kind to Bigger, she is also extremely patronizing.

Doc - The black owner of a pool hall on the South Side of Chicago that serves as a hangout for Bigger and his friends.

Reverend Hammond - The pastor of Mrs. Thomas’s church who urges Bigger to turn toward religion in times of trouble.

[The morning]

BOOK ONE: FEAR


The first part of Book One introduces you to Bigger Thomas and to his family and friends. It portrays Bigger's fear, his desire to escape, and his violence.
* * *
Bigger, his brother Buddy, his sister Vera, and his mother dress. The boys have to look away while the women dress; then the women look away while the brothers dress. The apartment contains only one room, and this scene illustrates the close quarters in which this family lives. But it also introduces the shame that results from being looked at. Later Bigger will burn with shame under the gaze of Mary and Jan. But the tiny family apartment makes being looked at an issue even at home.
Native Son begins with the sound of an alarm clock. Like much of the novel, this scene shows the realistic details of Bigger's life and environment. But it can be read symbolically too. The opening paragraphs depict Bigger's literal awakening in the morning, and your first glimpse of him is of a man hovering between sleep and wakefulness. Later you will learn that Bigger's life alternates between sleepy indifference and angry, often violent, activity. Many readers interpret Bigger's development of his own sense of self-worth as a movement toward greater awareness, a gradual awakening. According to this interpretation, the opening of Native Son both foreshadows Bigger's future (his eventual awakening) and illustrates his present emotional state (half-asleep, half-awake).
Before they have finished dressing, the family notices a rat scurrying along the floor. Bigger orders Buddy to block off the rat's hole. Then he corners the rodent and kills it by beating its head in with a skillet.

[The morning]

NOTE: THE RAT SCENE

In the essay "How 'Bigger' was Born," Wright says that when he began writing Native Son, he could not think of an opening scene. He decided to proceed without one, and when he had almost finished the novel, this opening came to him. Note how much it accomplishes. Of course the rat illustrates the miserable conditions under which the Thomases live. But in addition, Bigger's killing the rat helps reveal his character: he enjoys the violent clash. The rat is the first of many animal images in this novel. And the fate of the cornered, hunted rat foreshadows Bigger's eventual fate, just as the crushing of its head foreshadows Bigger's murder of his girlfriend Bessie in Book Two

Bigger teases his sister with the dead rat and makes her faint. His mother is upset, and she says that she sometimes regrets having given birth to Bigger. She calls him "black crazy." Bigger's relationship with both his mother and his sister seems quite tense. He feels that a wall separates him and his family. Over breakfast, Mrs. Thomas urges Bigger to take a job that he has been offered. If he refuses, the family will be removed from public assistance. Her nagging angers Bigger.
Bigger leaves the house and heads for the pool hall to visit with his friends, Jack, Gus, and G. H. He sees workers putting up a campaign poster for the State's Attorney, Buckley, who will be important in Book Three. Bigger thinks about a robbery he and his friends had once considered. Although they have held up some small black businesses in the past, this store is run by a white man named Blum. Robbing Blum's would be a big step for Bigger and his gang.
At the pool hall, Gus and Bigger stand outside and talk. They see a plane circling overhead. It is a skywriting plane, and the two young men watch the wispy white smoke gradually spell out the words, "Use Speed Gasoline," a message that only highlights the fact that neither Bigger nor Gus has any chance of owning a car. Like the opening scene in which Bigger kills the rat, this scene accomplishes several objectives. You learn that the black ghetto is not completely shut off from the outside white world, which intrudes teasingly, reminding Bigger and his friends of the possibilities denied them.
But the plane also becomes a symbol. It represents Bigger's desire to fly, not simply literally, by being an aviator, but also by soaring beyond all the limitations of his environment. Perhaps the airplane's white smoke adds to the symbolism by associating the freedom of flying with the color white. This scene ends with Bigger turning his fantasy of freedom into one of violence. He imagines using the plane to drop bombs on whites.
Gus and Bigger then play at being white. They pretend to be a general, a big businessman, and the president of the United States.

[The morning]

NOTE: J. P. MORGAN
John Pierpont Morgan (1867-1943) was a financier and the son of John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), whose holdings he inherited. The Morgans had used their banks to gain control of a huge empire of industries, railroads, and insurance companies. They financed corporate mergers and in return gained major roles in the merged companies. One of the most important companies they controlled was
U.S. Steel. Of course, the Morgans' economic power gave them tremendous political power as well. But to those who were opposed to such concentrations of wealth, the name Morgan became almost synonymous with what they saw as big business's excessive power.
Bigger and Gus continue to talk, and Bigger says that being black is "just like living in jail," an ironic statement in light of what eventually happens to him. Bigger feels that the white folks live in his stomach, where they burn like fire. Foreshadowing what is to come, he says that he expects that "something awful" will happen to him or that he will do "something he can't help." Gus understands, adding that the feeling is like one of falling. You may want to return to this conversation after you finish Books One and Two.
Bigger and Gus enter Doc's pool hall, where Jack and G. H. soon join them. Bigger reminds his three friends of their plan to rob Blum's, but the others are hesitant. Though Bigger taunts them for being scared, he is afraid too. Jack and G. H. agree to go along. As Bigger awaits Gus's decision, he begins to hate Gus because he knows that if Gus decides to go, the robbery will take place, and Bigger will have no excuse to back out. Finally, Gus accepts the plan, but he rightly accuses Bigger of being scared and of using his anger to disguise his fear. Bigger curses Gus, and the two almost fight. The four friends leave the pool hall and agree to return at three o'clock for the robbery.
Bigger realizes that he has emerged from his "curtain of indifference" and that he now feels an intense, violent energy. Note that he usually alternates between moods of indifference and violent anger. He seems to feel that viewing a movie will release some of the angry energy that has seized him.
Bigger and Jack go to a double feature. In the first movie, The Gay Woman, a rich young white woman meets secretly with her boyfriend, while her millionaire husband is busy at work. But one evening when the lovers are at a night club, a wild-looking man enters and throws a bomb at them. The boyfriend catches the bomb and throws it out the window before it can explode. It's revealed that the bomb-thrower was a Communist who thought he was attacking the millionaire husband.
Like the airplane trailing white smoke, the movie is another example of the way the white world teases Bigger and his friends with a dazzling freedom that they can never achieve. Because Bigger's new job will be at a white family's house, Bigger and Jack joke about the loose lives these whites seem to lead. During the next feature, a film about blacks dancing naked in the jungle, Bigger fantasizes about his new job at the Daltons'. Maybe Mr. Dalton will be a millionaire with a "hot" daughter who will want him to take her to the South Side. Maybe she'll have a secret boyfriend, and Bigger will drive her to see him.