Moreover, I show that Wright’s novel has caused considerable controversy among critics and intellectuals, including the African American writer James Baldwin, who dismissed Native Son as an example of American protest fiction, and (black) feminist scholars, criticizing Wright for his sexualized and misogynistic depiction of female characters. In Native Son Richard Wright makes the point that due to social injustices people such as Bigger will never understand justice and what is right or wrong. In this essay, I argue that Native Son not only explores the transformative power of violence in the life of the black antihero, Bigger Thomas, but also draws attention to the destructive nature of the protagonist’s violent actions. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Richard Wrights. Highly influenced by (urban) naturalism, Wright focuses on the misery of black ghetto life and reflects on the role and legitimacy of violence in the struggle for individual recognition. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago during the Great Depression, Richard Wright’s influential and controversial novel Native Son (1940) highlights the devastating effects of racial segregation, oppression, and poverty on African Americans. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.
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