Table of Contents
What is the summary of Native Son?
Native Son (1940) is a novel written by the American author Richard Wright. It tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago’s South Side in the 1930s. While not apologizing for Bigger’s crimes, Wright portrays a systemic causation behind them.
What is the main idea of Native Son?
Anger and Charity Wright attempts to tease out, in Native Son, the nature of Bigger’s anger—his hatred of humanity—and the extent to which charity toward man, as espoused by Max, Jan, Mary, and others, is a preferable way of life. Bigger is defined and enveloped by his hate.
Why did Bigger beat up Gus?
Bigger slashes the cloth on the pool table before slipping out the door and heading home. Though he does not know it consciously, he feels “instinctively” that it was his fear of robbing a white man that drove him to attack Gus. Bigger’s survival depends on how well he can bury this knowledge deep inside himself.
Why is the book Native Son important?
Native Son is an enduring work of fiction for two main reasons. First is its raw depiction of racial injustice in America in the 1930s, and in particular the impact of segregation on the lives of inner-city blacks.
What happens at the end of Native Son?
Bigger sits in his prison cell and Max makes a few visits, bringing hope of a last-minute rescue but the Governor refuses to offer Bigger a stay of execution. In his final moments, Bigger reflects on his miserable life and even though he is frightened of the electric chair, he is relieved to be dying.
What does bigger do with Mary’s body?
Bigger realizes that Mary is dead and tries frantically to devise a plan. He stuffs her body into her trunk and carries it down to the basement. He stops in front of the furnace and decides to burn the body.
What is Mary’s purpose in Native Son?
Mary acts out to set herself apart from her privileged family. She wants to appear more progressive than even they are. She dates Jan, who is a communist. By supporting a communist, she aims to buck the conventions and appear as if she is a part of the class struggle as opposed to reaping the benefits of being wealthy.
What does snow symbolize in Native Son?
Snow plays an important role in Book 2 of Wright’s Native Son. First, it functions as a symbol of how Bigger increasingly digs himself deeper and deeper into his crime and lies.
What does the white cat symbolize in Native Son?
As Bigger is previously symbolized as a black rat who is unwelcome, the white cat symbolism establishes it as a predator to Bigger who is in a place he does not belong.
What was the narrator point of view in Native Son?
narrator The story is narrated in a limited third-person voice that focuses on Bigger Thomas’s thoughts and feelings. point of view The story is told almost exclusively from Bigger’s perspective.
What idea does bigger get after Bessie mentions he is working near the site of the Leopold and Loeb case?
What idea does Bigger get after Bessie mentions he is working near the site of the Leopold and Loeb case? Kidnapping and ransom. After Bigger leaves Bessie and returns to the Dalton’s house what does Peggy tell him to do and why? Go the train station and pick up Mary’s trunk because no one has claimed it.
What does bigger do to Mary?
Bigger’s fear of her leads him to accidentally kill her. He helps her back to her room when she is too drunk to get there alone. When her blind mother comes to check on her, he smothers her to keep her quiet. Then he incinerates her body in the furnace.
What does the black rat symbolize in Native Son?
The rat symbolizes many things such a greed, inner thoughts, and disaster. The rat in the “Native Son” fits all three. It shows who Bigger really is, a man who is lost in a battle between societies, the poor black society and the rich white society.
What does the snow in native son symbolize?
Lesson Summary First, it functions as a symbol of how Bigger increasingly digs himself deeper and deeper into his crime and lies. Secondly, when snow appears around the Daltons’ house, it symbolizes the way that the white community has acted as a trap that Bigger cannot escape.
What does the rat symbolize in native son?