In the book Native Son by Richard Wright the main character, Bigger, is an unfortunate African American boy living in the slums and suppressed by the white man’s racism, has seemingly no opportunity to succeed. Native Son is not your regular feel good, rags to riches story, and instead centers around a self-doubting main character and ends with his being sentence to death after murdering his boss’s daughter. The question that Richard Wright leaves me with is, where did Bigger go wrong? Why is this story not a typical rags to riches story? The answer: Bigger had no outlet.
Many African Americans who are born into unfortunate situations make something of themselves by capitalizing on their talents. There have been multitudes of musicians, athletes, scientists, and literary geniuses that have worked hard and created a good life for themselves and their children. These people were capable of bettering their own lives because of their talents and their work ethic. Was Bigger not given the opportunity to succeed? What could his outlet have been? Interested? Check out this webquest.
