Native Son

Rating:
Summary: Intense Reading Experience
Review: Native Son is an excellent example of American literature at it's best. I found myself turning the pages endlessly completely captivated by Richard Wright's incredible imagery and flow. The story begins in Chicago, where a young man named Bigger spends each day hating the white society in which he is forced to live. Bigger turns to a life of crime and hangs with his gang until he is offered a job at a rich family's home as their driver. Bigger accepts the position and that is when the story really becomes interesting. The book is easy to read and I found myself breezing through it at a good pace. This is an important book, but also an enjoyable reading experience. A must-read! Other books I recommend: Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Balwin, The Losers' Club by Richard Perez

Rating:
Summary: Hey, OHIO!
Review: Hey you from Ohio, this book is not in the civil war time period. It's in the 1930's. Just thought I'd let you know.

This book is awesome. It's goes deep into the thoughts and feelings of Bigger Thomas about the relationship between blacks and whites in the early 1900's. This book really opens up your mind to the persecution that Black Americans have endured since coming to this country. Everyone who loves books should read this story.

Rating:
Summary: Murder and Race Relations
Review: Time: 1940's. Place: USA. Subject: Race relations. A young black man named Bigger, oppressed by a white society, accidentally kills the daughter of his new employer. He hides the body in the furnace then later attempts to burn it, which is almost comical in its absurdity. His crime is discovered, he flees, involving his girlfriend whom he later murders for fear she'll endanger him. He is brought to trial and sentenced to die. An unsympathetic character, paired with an extremely sympathetic situation of racial bigotry. The moral: hate and anger is self-destructive. Clearly showed how and why someone could become a person like Bigger without glossing over his coldness. It did not use sentimental prose and characters. Well done.

Rating:
Summary: Native Son
Review: Native son was a good book that showed the life back in the time of the civil war which is a time period which i think is very interesting. I read this book for school and if i did not have to read it i would have probably never gave it a chance. I did feel that it was boring especially when there was a 20 page closing statement. That i felt was boring. Overall, it was not the worst book i have ever read but i would probably never read it again.

Rating:
Summary: Good, But Overrated
Review: I read Native Son several years ago, and recently returned to it. Unlike Ellison's "Invisible Man," I don't think it holds up as well, many years after publication. The reason is that much of the writing style and innovativeness is dated. And it has questionable plot elements. In the key scene where Bigger is trying to prevent Mrs. Dalton from knowing he is in the bedroom with her daughter, one must wonder why he would so thoroughly lose his presence of mind, not to realize that she might not only walk up to the bed and smell her daughter's breath and clothing to see that it reeks of alcohol, but that she might also feel her way to her daugher's body, only to discover Bigger's presence? We're already told that he has seen her feel her way down hallways. So, why not, when sensing Mrs. Dalton's presence, simply hide under the bed? The other thing that makes the book dated is that now Bigger Thomas is the archetype for the recalcitrant, violent African American male. At the time Wright wrote the book I'm sure it was innovative. But it became so popular that now, racists in masse see Bigger Thomas when they think of African American males. Contrast this with the rich metaphor that is still detectable in Ellison's "Invisible Man" and I must conclude that Native Son is very overrated as a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Full of more holes than a block of swiss cheese!!!
Review: While I like a book with a good shock value,that was the only redeeming quality of the book. I realize that this was Wright's first novel but it is truly full of holes.
When he cuts the white girl's head off and throws her body in the furnace of her parent's house, wouldn't it be logical that someone might smell something...like burning flesh and hair perhaps?
Another thing, when the police discover the contents of the furnace, her bones are burned to dust in the matter of a day when the wooden axe handle used to chop off her head remains intact. Right!!! and that's not all! The boyfriend of the deceased white girl, Mary, befriends the killer which seems just slightly unrealistic, but only after the main character tries to pin his crimes on the boyfriend and the Communist Party; which the authorities actually believe for some time.
The character blames oppression by the white man for his troubles and actions. It also is apparently the reason why he brutally murders his own black girlfriend as well by bludgeoning her in the face with a brick. He sounds and seems just plain crazy to me. I don't know if the white man has much to due with this maniac's pasttime of being an American psycho.
I have read and thoroughly enjoyed some of Wright's short stories such as "The man who was almost a man," but this one could have used a little more forethought.

Rating:
Summary: BIGGER'S CHOICE'
Review: Native Son by Richard Wright is one of the best books of the last century. It is well written, moving, and thought-provoking. It is also often poorly taught and discussed.

Too many people who discuss this book would lump it into the genre of 'naturalistic' fiction. They argue that Bigger, like the characters of authors like Dreiser and Lewis, is constrained by his environment. These commentators would rob the character of Bigger of his ability to determine his own fate.

Bigger Thomas, no matter how constrained by circumstance, is his own master. His decisions, not his surroundings or heredity determine his fate.

Bigger's mother is depicted as upstanding, hardworking, loving and Christian. Bigger's mother loves and is greatly concerned for her oldest son. She provides as stable of a home setting as is possible in her circumstances. She is perceptive enough to see that Bigger's life outside of the home is the true threat to her son's well being, it is for this reason that she sets Bigger up with a great job for a person with his record.

Here Wright allows us see Bigger's first set of choices. Rather than be grateful to his mother, Bigger goes out on the town with his fellow criminal friends who he then alienates by being excessively domineering and cruel. He then takes the job because he has nothing to do. Even here, Bigger brings the massive chip on his shoulder to his new setting.

Bigger chooses to see the worst in people (there is always plenty to see'no matter where you are). Rather than try and understand his employer's desire to help the unfortunate, Bigger sees condescension. Rather than taking Jan's friendship for what it is worth, he sees the political motive of Jan's friendliness.

One can argue that the book bears out Bigger's suspicions. After all, when everything comes down most of the whites do in fact only see a 'black monster.' Yet this begs the question: Was Bigger truly doomed by his heredity and social status? The answer to this is a qualified no. Bigger still had choices. The fact that he made all the wrong ones does not mean that he had to.

In a sense, Bigger, as black person in the Chicago ghettos of the early twentieth century was indeed doomed to having far less options than his white counterparts. Wright condemns such a plight. He unmasks the racism of even the most well-intentioned whites. Yet I believe Wright's societal critique also exposes Bigger's other options. The two alternatives we are blatantly presented with are the 'causes.'

Bigger could have escaped in the cause of Communism. He could have made his life (even his crimes and punishment) worth something in the context of the great struggle as envisioned by Mr. Max. The flaw here is one of 'what then of Bigger?' Bigger gets to make a profound statement, perhaps betters the world for others, but what does it get Bigger?

The other 'cause' Bigger could have escaped into was his mother's rather pietistic, reward-in-the-next-world form of Christianity. Again, the problem with this is one of 'what of this life?' Should Bigger sit on his oppressed hands and wait to die?

The problem with both of the causes Bigger is presented with is that they do nothing for the here and now. They were offered (at least with any force) too late. These great causes, with the exception of Bigger's mother, cared little for Bigger until he was surrounded by all the hoopla of his trial. So, once again--was Bigger's fate predetermined by circumstance?

Bigger's final moments are filled with a vain dream partly born by his misinterpretation of Mr. Max's final address to him. Nevertheless, it is clear that however buried, Bigger's dream had previously existed in him. Bigger claims that his dream was the motivation for his crimes--in which case it would have existed long before any philosophy had tainted the picture.

Just as Nietzsche says 'bad men have no songs (how is it then that the Russians have songs)' how is it that this automaton of location and genes has dreams? If he dreams then must he not decide whether or not to act on such dreams?

It is Bigger's consistent failure to choose his dreams that leads to his nightmare. Perhaps he is paralyzed by the vagueness of his dream. Bigger knows what he does not want to do. He cannot decide on nor do what he wants. Even his one seemingly fulfilled action--the murder of his girlfriend--turns out to have failed.

This condition of indecisiveness is allegorically dealt with in Bigger's repeated putting off of cleaning the furnace of Mary Dalton's ashes and bones. This procrastination is the reason why Bigger is eventually caught.

Dreams, indecision, pathos, and regret add up to a tragedy. This tragedy was not caused by environment or even race. Though race and position hinder Bigger, his fate has clearly not been written in the stars. His decisions are his alone'not the result of society. Others around him have chosen other, less destructive paths in life. The prosecuting attorney argues this implicitly in his case before the court (though it is tainted by a divisive racism).

Wright was clearly sympathetic with the lives of those who were living like Bigger. His aim was to shine a light on the lives that his less fortunate contemporaries were living in order to bring change. The fact that Wright saw this change as possible is the strongest argument against Bigger's story being one dictated by 'naturalistic constraints.'

Native Son is a horrifying picture of a slice of American life that too many people experience. Reading it without an acknowledgement of Bigger's ability to act for himself does nothing to strengthen Wright's argument. This is a great American novel that should be read honestly--with intellectual blinders off.

I give Native Son my highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Symbolic, Suspenseful , Sensational!
Review: Native Son is the most inspiring book I have read in a long time. It speaks of prejudices, foreign to me being a middle class white female in the 21st century, yet assisted my understanding of how confining and debilitating this must have been. I am embarrassed of how my white ancestors treated the black population, and very aware that hatred for different races is prominent on all sides of the color wheel. Like the author of Native Son, I wish that people could understand that down deep, in our psyches and inner core- there is no color. Native Son also speaks of - death-, which transcends all racial boundaries and unites us all in the end.
The novel is based on young Bigger Thomas, a Negro teenager growing up in Chicago's 'black belt' in the 40's. Daily Bigger must deal with his poor and starving family, pressure of being the 'leader' of his delinquent group of friends; he is segregated, oppressed, angry and most of all very scared. A brutal bully on the exterior masks his silent fear that he discusses with no one and doesn't even admit to himself. The source of Bigger's fear (and hatred) is the great mountain of white people, whom he holds accountable for oppression of the Negro population. One afternoon, Bigger devises a plan with his buddies to rob a white delicatessen. He then starts a fight and pulls a knife on one of his the boys in order to get out of pulling off the burglary. Later that night he is to get his first job, driving the family car for a very prominent white family on the other side of town. Though he doesn't admit it, Bigger is happy that he will at least have money for his family to be able to eat. That evening, on his first task of driving the young daughter to a 'school event' - young Mary is murdered by Bigger in an accidental sort of way. Bigger derives a plan to cover up the situation, which fails miserably and he gets himself into even more trouble. The painful and gruesome actions that Bigger is able to perform are the byproduct of his oppression and ultimate fear. Despite that he is pretty certain he will be unable to escape his fate; after the murder, Bigger is more calm and peaceful then he has been ever before in his life. It's like he has been waiting for something disastrous to happen his whole life and now that it has, there is no reason to worry about trying to prevent it any longer. He deals with his fate stoically, for now he is a man and understands more deeply than before. He arrives at an enlightened existence of race and death and fear and anger, and for the first time believes that maybe he really is something more than a criminal black kid on the streets of Chicago.

Richard Wright, the author of Native Son, grew up in a poor family in the South with much segregation. He later moved to Chicago- where he found it to be less prejudiced, but still his people were very confined. Despite his hard, poor childhood- in and out of orphanages, he was able to become an educated and enlightened author. Many blacks have asked him why he didn't write a tale of a successful brother such as himself, fearing that the boy that he depicts will only confirm the suspicions of whites that blacks are all evil and capable of gruesome crimes. His view on this was that he had to be honest, had to make a statement as to how this whole mess of racism and hatred could end up if something was not done. He wanted people to know that there is a hatred for whites among the black population that is as deep and powerful as its counterpart. Mostly, he felt that he could not be afraid to relate this message, and would not succumb to the fear of doing so.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book and I learned some small things.
Review: I recommend this book to anyone who really wants to know the true reprucussions of racism, segregation and oppression on an individual psyche. I actually felt a smiggen of some of the thoughts of the main character though we are thankfully very different. THis book is not boring and the author really put his heart into it. I was mostly impressed with the educated scholarly air of the author though it was written in the 1940s by a black guy. I honestly was thinking that I those days this language and incite that this author had was impossible for people of color because of educational restrictions. WELL THAT GOES TO SHOW JUST HOW INSTITUITIONALISED I HAVE BEEN. In school I was only told that we were slaves and then Abraham Lincoln set us free. Well thats why I`m here. I am proud of you Richard Wright and feel alot better about black writers now. I thought it was all Terry McMillian stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Native Son
Review: absolutely the most suspenseful novel I have ever read! In fact, I have not been able to read another book w/o comparing it to Native Son. This book definitely raised the bar for me and what I read..and I have yet to have read a better told story. Richard Wright was a genius!