Native Son
by Lauren Dunn
In Eric Van Hoose, Native Son: Lightness and Darkness in Native Son, he discusses the environment portrayed in the novel and how that alone has such great influence on the people who live within that environment. Van Hoose writes in terms of the “white-self-image conflict” that is presented in Native Son. He states that in Richard Wright’s novel, Bigger's character is influenced by the social, economic, and cultural influences of the environment. Van Hoose argues that various elements of the environment shape Bigger's character. “My argument also centers around the environment experienced by Bigger and, more specifically, the power of the whiteness built into that environment, which is so inescapably and actively present as to be impossible to ignore” (Van Hoose). This article attempts to show the environment as it was portrayed in Natie Son: White vs. Black.
As Van Hoose’s argument is based upon the environment, he also points out the “whiteness” and “blackness” used in this novel. Throughout this novel, readers experience constant images referring to white and black. The novel first introduces readers to the “blackness”; black room, with a black family, and a black rat. The “darkened” movie theatre also serves as a symbol for black. Wrights symbols for “whiteness” were a white cat, white house, white eyes, white snow, white sunlight, and a “white blur”. The deeper meaning of these symbols for white and black are the racial categories that these symbols present.
Masaya Takeuchi's, Bigger's Divided Self: Violence And Homosociality In Native Son, states that, Bigger Thomas’s violence in Richard Wright’s Native Son (1940) has provoked a vigorous critical debate between those who read it as a creative action through which Bigger achieves self-recognition and affirms his human identity and those who attack it for reinforcing stereotypes of African-American men. “The fact that Bigger is subjected to complex social forces—racial oppression and cultural discourses—that divide his sense of selfhood makes problematical any simple apology for or criticism of his violence” (Takeuchi).
Bigger's tough persona is due to the murder of his father by the whites. The strong front that Bigger puts on to everyone is to avoid feeling guilty about his family's situation. Because of the environment Bigger is forced into, his identity splits acting one way with blacks, while being entirely different around whites. Bigger is assertive around the blacks and submissive to the whites. Native Son recounts how the assertive, masculine side of Bigger is constructed in opposition to his family’s plight and to the white racism that oppresses them all (Takeuchi).
Takeuchi suggests that by the end of this novel, Bigger's split identity is beginning to unify. At the end of the novel, readers see the softness in Bigger coming out as he begins to cry right before his execution. “His “faint, wry, bitter smile” (430) in the novel’s last scene expresses both his unresolved mixed feelings—pain, isolation, and despair—and the recovery of his humanity in the darkness of racism” (Takeuchi).
Work Cited
Takeuchi, Masaya. "Bigger's Divided Self: Violence And Homosociality In "Native Son.." Studies In American Naturalism 4.1 (2009): 56-74. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 June 2013.
Van Hoose, Eric. "Native Sun: Lightness And Darkness In Native Son." Black Scholar 41.2(2011): 46-54. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 June 2013.
by Lauren Dunn
In Eric Van Hoose, Native Son: Lightness and Darkness in Native Son, he discusses the environment portrayed in the novel and how that alone has such great influence on the people who live within that environment. Van Hoose writes in terms of the “white-self-image conflict” that is presented in Native Son. He states that in Richard Wright’s novel, Bigger's character is influenced by the social, economic, and cultural influences of the environment. Van Hoose argues that various elements of the environment shape Bigger's character. “My argument also centers around the environment experienced by Bigger and, more specifically, the power of the whiteness built into that environment, which is so inescapably and actively present as to be impossible to ignore” (Van Hoose). This article attempts to show the environment as it was portrayed in Natie Son: White vs. Black.
As Van Hoose’s argument is based upon the environment, he also points out the “whiteness” and “blackness” used in this novel. Throughout this novel, readers experience constant images referring to white and black. The novel first introduces readers to the “blackness”; black room, with a black family, and a black rat. The “darkened” movie theatre also serves as a symbol for black. Wrights symbols for “whiteness” were a white cat, white house, white eyes, white snow, white sunlight, and a “white blur”. The deeper meaning of these symbols for white and black are the racial categories that these symbols present.
Masaya Takeuchi's, Bigger's Divided Self: Violence And Homosociality In Native Son, states that, Bigger Thomas’s violence in Richard Wright’s Native Son (1940) has provoked a vigorous critical debate between those who read it as a creative action through which Bigger achieves self-recognition and affirms his human identity and those who attack it for reinforcing stereotypes of African-American men. “The fact that Bigger is subjected to complex social forces—racial oppression and cultural discourses—that divide his sense of selfhood makes problematical any simple apology for or criticism of his violence” (Takeuchi).
Bigger's tough persona is due to the murder of his father by the whites. The strong front that Bigger puts on to everyone is to avoid feeling guilty about his family's situation. Because of the environment Bigger is forced into, his identity splits acting one way with blacks, while being entirely different around whites. Bigger is assertive around the blacks and submissive to the whites. Native Son recounts how the assertive, masculine side of Bigger is constructed in opposition to his family’s plight and to the white racism that oppresses them all (Takeuchi).
Takeuchi suggests that by the end of this novel, Bigger's split identity is beginning to unify. At the end of the novel, readers see the softness in Bigger coming out as he begins to cry right before his execution. “His “faint, wry, bitter smile” (430) in the novel’s last scene expresses both his unresolved mixed feelings—pain, isolation, and despair—and the recovery of his humanity in the darkness of racism” (Takeuchi).
Work Cited
Takeuchi, Masaya. "Bigger's Divided Self: Violence And Homosociality In "Native Son.." Studies In American Naturalism 4.1 (2009): 56-74. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 June 2013.
Van Hoose, Eric. "Native Sun: Lightness And Darkness In Native Son." Black Scholar 41.2(2011): 46-54. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 June 2013.