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Native Sun: Themes of Racism, Violence, And Social Injustice
In his most famous novel, "Native Sun", Richard Wright successfully
develops three major themes: Racism, violence as a personal necessity, and
social injustice. He has captured the powerful emotions and suffering, the
frustrations and yearnings, the restlessness and hysteria, of all the
Bigger Thomas's in this grippingly dramatic novel.
Wright shows to us, through Bigger Thomas, how bad things were for the
black race. He tells how Bigger was raised in a oneŞroom apartment, living
with his family and rats. The rent was very high, and his mother was barely
able to pay it. Bigger's education like most blacks at that time , did not
exceed the eighth grade. Without the help of the Relief Agency, Bigger and
his family may not have been able to keep up much longer financially.
Bigger had no money, except for the spare change his mother gives him, so
he would usually just hang out at the pool hall, which was in the black
district, or southside.
Bigger used to pull little jobs with his friends, but all of them
including Bigger wanted to pull off a big job, by robbing Blum's store.
They were afraid though, of getting caught for robbing a white man. They
know the police don't care about blacks, and would probably accuse them of
many more crimes. Luckily for Bigger, though, the Relief Agency did find
him a job with the Daltons. When Bigger went to the Daltons house for the
first time, he brought his gun, because it made him feel equal to the white
people.
When Bigger got to the Daltons house, he didn't know whether to enter
the house by the front or back door. He looks for a way to the back, and
realizes the only way in is through the front door. As he rang the doorbell,
he felt very disturbed. And when he started talking to Mr. Dalton, Mr.
Dalton asks Bigger about his past crimes, which made Bigger feel pressured.
Then Mary Dalton walked in and asked Bigger if he was in a union, if he
knew about communism, and then still more questions, until her father
finally asked her to leave the room. Bigger was afraid that this little
brat was going to get him to lose his job. Then he met Peggy, a maid, Who
asks Bigger all these questions, like he could understand what she was
talking about. Then Peggy showed Bigger the car he was to drive the family
in. When He saw the black car, he thought about how the whites own
everything. When Bigger meets Miss Dalton, she talks to other people about
him while he is standing next to her, like he was the third person.
Richard Wright also shows how Bigger is caught up by forces he could
neither understand, or control. Bigger found a sense of freedom and
identity in acts of violence. Bigger mainly disliked his family because he
feels sorry for them. And when Bigger picks on his friend, Gus, it is
mainly out of fear of robbing Mr. Plum.
When Bigger, Mary, and Jan get drunk, Bigger takes Mary home and
accidentally kills her while trying to shut her up so her mom wouldn't know
she was drunk. Then, after Mary is dead, and her mom is gone, Bigger shoves
Mary's Body in her trunk, and carry's her downstairs. Then Bigger tries to
shove Mary's body in the furnace, but her head won't fit. So, he takes the
hatchet and cuts her head off, throwing it as well as her body, in the
furnace.
After everyone found out Bigger had killed Mary, Bigger ran to Bes sie,
his girlfriend's, house. When he arrived, he ended up telling her
everything that had happened. Bigger, after telling Bessie everything,
realizes he can't leave her alone with this knowledge. So, Bigger and
Bessie, ran to an abandoned building, where Bigger figured how hard it
would be to keep going with Bessie along. Bigger felt he had to kill her to
keep her quiet and keep her off his back, so he did.
Richard Wright also showed us the social injustice blacks had. When
Bigger got caught by the police and was jailed, he received constant
harassment. He was faced with a choice of either confess, or else be
lynched by a white crowd, which shows the violence of whites towards blacks.
At the trial Bigger was tried unlawfully. For instance: When Buckley, the
man prosecuting Bigger, tells Bigger to reİenact the murder. And throughout
the trial, there was name calling in the newspapers, and at the trial.
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
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Martin Luther King And Malcolm X - Two Views, One Cause
Many black authors and leaders of the sixties shared similar feelings towards the white run American society in which th
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