The Importance Of Racism In Native Son By Richard Wright

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Racism, separate but equal segregation are the terms used to describe the 1940s, a period when the book was published. People from the African American community lived in poor conditions characterized by poverty. Most of them worked as slaves for the whites to earn a living. The blacks loathed the whites because they treated them as second class citizens. Opportunities were not equally distributed with the two races being segregated with the best being reserved for the whites. All the blacks wanted was equality something they did not receive as the government passed laws that deemed segregation constitutional. Richard Wright, the author of Native Son, uses the book to explain how the blacks felt about the whites a character that is well played …show more content…

The lack of role models and people to look up to pushes them to doing things that they later regret. Fear is a common characteristic of many youths as they believe that they will not be given an opportunity to defend themselves hence try to cover their actions to avoid the consequences. From the book, most of Bigger’s actions were as a result of fear. He feared to lose his job, so he accidentally killed Mary while trying to silence her to prevent her mother from noticing his presence in Mary’s bedroom. He feared to go to prison, so he burns her body and tries to implicate Jan. He fears Bessie might tell on him, so he killed her. From the example, it is evident that the black man lacked the power to defend himself. They still feel enslaved to the whites. It can be supported by that fact that it was Jan who offered him the help of a lawyer called Max. The death of Bessie can help a reader understand how importance is drawn to any issues affecting the white while the blacks have no one to fight for them, and this is a clear indication of racial discrimination. In conclusion, the book does help shed light on the issues affecting the young black youth and how the society views them. Poverty has always been an issue for the people in the African American community thus limiting them from achieving their goals and objectives. Some of the actions taken by black youths are because of their living conditions and their desire to want change. Helplessness pushes them to violence and

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