Analysis Of Cruelty In Richard Wright's 'Native Son'
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In Native Son by Richard Wright the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, is faced with various obstacles and various forms of cruelty that ultimately help portray the meaning of the novel as a whole; moreover, the cruelties that Bigger survives render a deeper understanding of the type of person he is. Native Son is a novel that gives the ultimate message that society transforms people and that many times in order to not feel negligent people blame their misfortunes on others; this meaning is portrayed by the cruel obstacles bigger faces: poverty, pressure of providing for his family despite his young age, and segregation. The cruelties suffered by Bigger reveal that Bigger is a man who blames his misfortunes on others, a man that felt neglected, and a man who felt oppressed by all white people despite the fact that all the white people he knew were genuinely nice…show more content… For example, poverty was a cruelty imposed on Bigger by the economy of the time, and the cruelty of the time displayed the fact that Bigger was a man that blamed all his misfortunes on others in order to feel well. However, the truth was that Bigger just didn’t look for a job, all Bigger had to do was look for a job because when he did look for a job he was able to find one; therefore, Bigger had no excuse as to why he was really as economically challenged as he was. Moreover, this cruelty is a prime example that adds on to the meaning of the novel as a whole because it exemplifies how people often blame their misfortunes on others in order to feel better about the fact they sometimes don’t try. Another cruelty suffered by Bigger Thomas was the fact that he had to provide for his family despite being very young. The fact that Bigger needed to provide for his family made Bigger feel neglected. Bigger felt as if he weren’t as important and that no one cared for him, in fact he sometimes felt it would have been better if he were dead because all he did was listen