The book Native Son is an engaging book by Wright (1940) that gives astonishing accounts relating to racism, segregation, and oppression. The book’s storyline is set in the 1930s and revolves around a poor black young man, Bigger Thomas, who lives in constant distrust and hatred of the white people. Living on the South Side of Chicago, Bigger leads a gang of three other men in the crime. After Bigger compromises a mission to rob a white man’s store, he seeks employment from a rich white man who works as a driver. The author describes how Bigger sleeps with Mary after a night of drinking, the daughter of his employer. Later in panic, Bigger suffocates Mary to death after her blind mother finds him sleeping with her. He later disposes of the body, recovers, and a chase is initiated to see Bigger. Later, the police arrest Bigger, and he is sentenced to execution for the murder of Mary. Throughout the novel, the author excellently employs figurative language, thereby developing evocative events for the readers.
Figurative language allows the author to develop a comparison by connecting the senses and the concrete to abstract ideas. Through figurative language, words are employed in a non-literal method to achieve a specific effect. In the novel, Wright employs the use of metaphor to advance an existential thought of self-awareness. The author uses the blindness of Mrs. Dalton to play a critical role in the murder of Mary (Wright, 1940, P. 100). The mother’s blindness gives Bigger the advantage to suffocate Mary to death which symbolizes the cruelty of racism in American society. The inability of Mrs. Dalton to see Biggers triggers him to use violence. The blindness indicates the failure of the white Americans to understand black Americans beyond the stereotypical depictions in the media. In the later stages, the author notes that even Bigger realizes that he was indeed blind. Bigger was not able to see the whites as individuals; instead, as an oppressive mass. Through blindness, the novel informs the reader how the lack of self-awareness can affect one’s actions, behavior, and how others perceive you.
The symbolism within the novel is also vivid through Bigger’s encounter with a rat while at his house. He fiercely kicks the rat against the wall and tries to go after the rat to kill it. In this part, the encounter with the rat signifies the poor living standards of Bigger and his family. This part of the novel is significant as it illustrates the living conditions of the black people. The rat could also be a symbolic representation of Bigger and how he would later meet his untimely death. In the novel, just like the rat, Bigger runs for his life, trying to avoid arrest and ultimate court judgment (Wright, 1940, P. 39-47). Later due to his appearance, he is cornered by society and arraigned in court.
Just like how the rat tried to survive by biting Bigger and searching for its hole to hide, he eventually died. Therefore, the book manages to show how it does not matter how hard an individual tries to live in a society that dislikes them, as, in the end, the societal traditions will not change. In this part, the novel introduces how one’s actions and decisions are essential in shaping their destiny. In the case of the rat, the decision to find shelter in the house was a significant contribution to its demise. The same situation is vivid in the case of Bigger, who decides to murder a white girl and try to hide the body. However, in the long run, Bigger is arrested and prosecuted. The text also triggers the reader to understand death as the ultimate end for everyone. Though both the rat and Bigger tried to escape death by all means, eventually, death caught up with them, and each succumbed.
The author employs symbolism through depictions of the Christian cross when Bigger is sent to jail in the book. While in prison, Reverend Hammond grants Bigger a cross which symbolizes sacrifice and compassion for a greater good. This act leaves Bigger to imagine sacrificing himself to clear himself from the shame of being black. However, when Bigger sees a cross burning, he can only associate the cross with the racism and hatred that have been at the core of his life. Bigger identifies the cross with the crosses burned during racist rituals. The author advances to write that even the moral foundation of Christianity has been corrupted through systematic racism in America. In this section, the book seeks to let the readers slowly question the existence of God or any other force as religion is symbolically used to advance racism. When religion which is supposed to be a source of comfort and meaning in life, is corrupted, readers are encouraged to think big. This practice motivates them to fill the nothingness by solely embracing existence.
Richard uses imagery to describe the incident in that Bigger Thomas murders his white employers’ daughter Mary Dalton. Richard creates a picture of the incident in the reader’s mind and helps him imagine how it would have been if the reader was in a Biggers situation. He clearly describes how Bigger Drives Mary and her boyfriend out for dinner one evening. The author uses imagery to visualize Bigger’s panic after Mary’s mother finds him in his daughter’s room. In that moment of panic, the writer, through Biggers actions to suffocate Mary, gives the reader a clear picture of anxiety and its effects.
Wright utilizes Simile as figurative language to characterize Bigger as an unstable character to create an uneasy mood. He is described as an inconsistent character because he suffers massive moods and character changes from silence to hatred and rage. Bigger is said to be “violent,” and the term is very significant in the description of Biggers character (Wright, 1940, P. 31). Richard characterizes Bigger as a ruthless and vicious person who is unable to control his mood. The word “violent” is repeated throughout the novel to emphasize the cruel nature of Bigger. The Simile here gives the reader a sense of uneasiness and heightened sensitivity about the uncontrollable personality of Bigger. By introducing the reader to anxiety, the novel proves how fear prevails in an environment with distress, uneasiness, and discontent.
Throughout the novel, Wright uses figurative language to grasp the reader’s attention and drive some aspects to the reader’s mind. The author uses symbolism, imagery, and repetition to elaborate on the issue of racism and the life of a black person in America. The book touches on aspects of religion where Christianity loses meaning as it is depicted as corrupted and a tool to propagate racism and hatred. In the book, different people use religion to advance individual goals. This depiction introduces the reader to existentialist thought on faith. The author excellently uses blindness to explain self-awareness and show the reader how failure to understand own challenges and strengths affects behavior. Through the use of different styles, the book gives the reader a glimpse of the role of anxiety in dictating one’s behavior. The reader is thereby prepared to deal with periods of uneasiness and distress to alleviate the adverse effects of stress. Through the use of different styles, Native Son slowly introduces its readers to some of its major and minor tenets. The use of figurative language efficiently develops evocative events for the readers as they read over the book.
Reference
Wright, R., 1940. Native son. Harper & Brothers Publishers, pp.1-359.