Richard Wright’s Native Son is an exceptional example of
dynamic, participatory literature. Rather than allowing the
reader to effortlessly absorb the words on the page, Wright
undermines the passivity and comfort we often expect when
reading. Both the content of the novel and Wright’s literary
style provoke and disturb, immersing the reader in a dense
psychological terrain that is simultaneously intimate and
larger-than-life. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Native Son
follows the life of Bigger Thomas, a young African-American man
living in squalor with his mother and siblings. Bigger’s mother
holds him accountable for the welfare of the family, but his
ability to work towards a stable life seems perpetually
hindered. He can’t overcome his poverty because he can’t get a
job that pays well, and he can’t get a decent job because of his
lack of education and limited social mobility. He is also
imprisoned by the sense that, as an African-American man, his
mere existence has been criminalized: “There was just the ol