Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Acceptance Essays The Native Son The Native Son The novel, Native Son, by Richard Wright deals with a lot of themes all surrounding the protagonist, Bigger. Wright wants to show that, considering the conditions of Bigger's existence, his violent personality and his criminal behavior are not surprising. Bigger wants to feel like a human being with a free, independent will. His overwhelming sense of fear arises from his lack of power feeling in the face of an unnamed, hovering doom. Bigger’s crime is an act of rebellion, an affirmation of his independent will to act against the voice of social authority. Violence and crime are the only things Bigger feels he can use to declare his individual will as a human being. Two of the themes in the novel, deals with Richard Wright’s criticisms and the blindness of Jan and Mary. The social institutions described by Wright in the novel were very detailed. During the 1930’s, a symbolic code that was very common on black servants was one who was humble, clownish and ignorant. This helped elevate the whites rage, and boost the propagated images of black Americans. The newsreel depicted the entertainments and scandals of the ultra-rich. This newsreel was followed by a movie that portrayed black people as exotic, primitive savages. Together, these two films reflected an exaggerated portrait of racist symbolic codes. White society has control over the social dilogue that determines the meaning of the color of Bigger's skin and identity. "Blackness" is portayed as dangerous, savage, and inferior to "whiteness." The judicial system was also criticized in their rulings against Bigger. They didn’t seem to give much thought of Max’s speech. They still did what society wanted and found him guilty. Richard Wright criticizes the courts for being one-sided on every case that involves a “colored man.” In the middle of the second book, the press were so interested in Bigger to help with discrediting Jan and the Communist Party. They are delighted to hear that Bigger didn't want to eat with Jan and Mary at Ernie's. They wanted to print an article using Bigger to "prove" that the "primitive Negro" doesn't want to be "disturbed by white civilization.” Though they are the ones being fooled by Bigger’s role playing in which he can use to protect himself, due to their racism. Mr. Dalton’s real estate company charges homeowners in the black belt, an exhorborant amount for run down. apartments. Most of the people who own these homes barely get by each day, having the responsibilies of providing for their families and for themselves. Mr. Dalton shows everyone on paper that he is a great man who donates to the NAACP with ping-pong tables. Wright shows clearly that he is a “skumbag”, who is only taking advantage of the people who don’t realize what he is doing. Mary Dalton seemed dangerously not aware to the social codes that drew a strict boundary between white women and black men. Black men have been lynched for so little as looking at a white woman, and Mary behaves as if those social codes are merely silly prejudices to ignore. She does not realize the deadly consequences her actions could have for Bigger. Jan increases Bigger's terror, anger, and shame by ignoring the social codes as well. Mary and Jan's attempts to treat Bigger like an equal merely dismay him. “Look, Bigger. We want one of those places where colored people eat, not one of those show places.” (p. 69) Although they are content to ignore the racist rules of conduct, Bigger does have reasons to fear and distrust their gesture. Other white people would be angered to see Bigger shake a white man's hand and call him by his first name. Other white people would be furious to see Bigger sitting in the front seat with Mary. Moreover, Bigger has learned to distrust the seemingly kind gestures of white people. Bigger is in a peculiar position with respect to Mary and Jan. He could never assume a position of equality with them on his own initiative. He does not have the social power and authority to choose to ignore the racist atmosphere. Mary and Jan, as part of the empowered white majority, can authorize this. It is one thing for them to imagine that they are Bigger's friends, but it is entirely different for Bigger to do so. Without their "permission," Bigger couldn't call them by their first names or shake their hands. Bigger would fear them less if they obeyed social taboos. He cannot understand their unorthodox behavior at all; they are not human individuals for Bigger, but representatives of "whiteness," a terrifying, threatening force. The Social Institutions and the blindness of Jan and Mary are two underlining themes of the novel. Blindness is a word that was used often in the book to describe the characters. The blindness of the white society was their “illiteracy” of the black society. This is why Bigger was able to manipulate and think of a plan to get everything he possibly could out of the situation. Though, we learned later on that he was also blind in a way, and that he would be the one that gets all the blame. Bibliography: Word Count: 863
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