Would you care if your parents suddenly just went missing? Or if you were accused of a crime you did not commit ? how would you seek justice and redemption? Most would resort to getting a lawyer or a defense, however when the entire society is against you how will you manage to do so?. Racism is a global issue that had long existed, where millions of people had suffered from the unjust and cruel society, and unfortunately, Richard Wright, the author of Native Son was one of the victims of racism. Wright had been completely influenced by racism and had aimed to spread and express his experiences to the world. And an example of how he achieved that is through the famous novel, Native Son, where Richard had portrayed his experiences in the eyes of the main character Bigger.
All Throughout the novel, racism as a theme, was integrated and referred to, by most events and actions done. Bigger, the oldest son in his household, was born and raised in a small room that was shared amongst his family, where rats, and trash was all over the place. “Turn your heads so I can dress,” she said., this indicates how small and humble their house is. Unlike the daltons, who acquired a luxurious house, where the house was well furnished, and each had his own room to enjoy. “The houses he passed were huge” and “There was no rug on the floor and the plastering. Each person lived in one room and had a little world of his own.” where a comparison has been made between the houses of the blacks and how the houses of the whites. This by its own represents the unjust between the environments that each had lived in, and the capabilities that each has endured.
Furthermore, the blacks did not have any security or safety, since Bigger and his friends were not afraid of robbing other black shops, rather they were used to it since the police, does not care about what, or how the blacks, teach each other. Instead, they had overthinked stealing blum, as he was white, and the police will investigate, and will probably catch them. In addition to that the death of bessie was not cared for by the police, as to how they have reacted to the death of mary, which was long before besse’s. As a matter of fact, they have used her death, as a method of justifying that it was Bigger who killed her. Therefore concluding that besse’s death was nothing but evidence to them, and was treated inhumanely, as if she were an object. These were a few of the many harsh cases that the blacks have suffered from.
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Not all whites were cruel and harsh, as a matter of fact the daltons where supports of the blacks. As he has mentioned. “ i’m a supporter of the national association for the advancement of colored people” and one example of one of the things he has done is teaching green to give him the opportunity to get a job in the government, where he has said “oh, he was smart, he took a job with the government ”. The daltons seemed to be fully with the blacks, however, a few analysts, have said that, he is doing this for the reputation, how? Since he owns many of the black’s houses, he has increased the prices, to make the blacks work for the white, which is in this case Bigger. Mary, was not racist, however she was greatly influenced by here society and environment, since she has been constantly using “your people” and “our country” which signifies the discrimination, this can also be seen when peggy talks about the blacks. In despite of this mary tried to grasp, how the black’s have lives, and the situation that they were in, and in some manner have admitted her ignorance in that field, where she has mentioned “ I’ve been to England, France and Mexico, but I don’t know how people live ten blocks from me. We know so little about each other.”
Racism has affected Biggers mentality, and was the underlying cause to many of the events that happened in the novel. Bigger was truly brainwashed, and was oblivious of what was going around him. Bigger was limited in what he can do, because of racism “Goddamnit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s just like livin’ in jail” which has influenced how he thinks and his identity to him it was as if “ Bigger perceives that the narrow boundaries of his life were already determined before his birth.
A long-standing unequal division of power between white and black” which has lost him his identity. As a result of racism and how the society has treated him Bigger had ”his emotions hiding behind a wall” where he does not know who to love or care for rather he did what was on his mind. For example he scared vera with the rat, while keeping in mind that she gets scared quickly. Furthermore, he had used the money that his mom gave him to go to the movies rather than search for that job. In these scenarios he had hid all his emotions. also, he had hid the fear that was within him and has reflected in on gus, which was a indirectly affected by racism.
All these factors., have led to his ill mentality where, when he killed mary by mistake, he unleashed his potential, and have felt free for the first time, since he was able to rebel.“All right They white folks. They done killed plenty of us”. this was his way of getting his identity back which was stolen by the white society. He however, did not stop there, he went full psycho and have attempted to follow what loeb and leopold have done, where they “The ones who killed the boy and then tried to get money from the boy’s family” this shows how he has tried to plan a full plan to gain money and power. Nevertheless he killed his partner, besse. Bigger has gone crazy, which was a result of how the society has treated him.
Richard Wright, was a victim of racism where he wanted to portray a glimpse of what he has experienced in the novel, Native Son. Richard, had suffered from racism and so did his ancestors, where all four of his grandparents were slaves. Wright has been under the rule of Jim Crow laws and practices, and was the first to publish and express what the african americans were experiencing at that time, which is why it had become extremely successful and has allowed people to see what he has saw “…of the millions of Bigger Thomas’s in every land and race…. But more than anything else, as a writer, I was fascinated by the similarity of the emotional tensions of Bigger in America and Bigger in Nazi Germany and Bigger in old Russia.”. Wright has implemented much of what he has seen in his society in the book, and example of this is the rat in the beginning of the novel. Where Wright has seen many people having rats in their houses biting on the owners legs. Therefore have added it to give a better picture of how it was for them.
Racism has existed for a long time, however it was most prominent in the 17th century. European americans have segregated and have used race to divide the people, where the white’s have enjoyed privileges that the african americans did not get. This was also spread to many others such as the irish and middle easterns. However for the african americans, it seemed to be the harshest. African americans have suffered some serious damage, as how many have exclaimed. A way of how this could be portrayed is how Bigger had suffered in his society. Nowadays people have evolved, and have started to accept one another, while trying to diminish racism, in despite of this, racism is still abundant all around the world. In america for example, many people segregate based on the color or gender, or even the nationality of the person. Where some have more privileges, such as better health care, or higher salaries.
However it is not merely as severe as it was in the 20th century. In my perspective, it can be simplified by a analogy, where people are categorized as food containers in a supermarket where, each belongs in a specific environment or place, and within each environment there are the better quality containers which are packaged with better materials unlike the cheaper ones. And it is extremely prohibited for one container to be put in another section, it is just frustrating how we have reached so far in technology, science and research, however we are still so closed minded to where we differentiate by color or race. And if an african american is seen in a white neighborhood he will be judged and criticized. This should stop and we should proceed to reach the next level to catch up with the advancements that have been made.
Racism has been a issue for so long, which has affected millions. Bigger who was portrayed by Richard had both gone through a journey filled with racism and hatred, where they had suffered since they were born, it is as if ”their futures were planned before their birth”. this issue has existed in america for a long time however it has specifically gained significance in the 1700s which has to be solved as it is a form of cancer to all human race. Solutions could be knowing our origins, and appreciate the fact that we all came from one. Another thing could be doing sessions that could help advance some of the people’s mentality. If a problem as such were to be solved, then the world would have lost a heavy burden of its back.
