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Anger Theme In Native Son

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NEELAM PAL M.A. ENGLISH USHA MUDUGANTI THE LOST GENERATION 23 NOVEMBER 2016 Analyzing the themes of ‘Anger and charity’ in the novel Native Son by Richard Wright. Richard Wright’s novel ‘Native Son’ appeared in the year 1940. The work expresses the thoughts on the individuality and actions of the character. It also defines the actions followed by the acts of fear, anger, sadness and detachment from the society. The novel revolves around the main protagonist Bigger Thomas who faces racism in the American society. He is the eldest brother in the family consisting of mother, younger brother Buddy Thomas and little sister Vera Thomas. Bigger Thomas is a tragic creation in the society of the oppressor where the oppressed were forced to live …show more content…

He hates the white society for not letting him pursue his dream ambition of being a pilot. He has grown up with his heart full of anger and hatred towards the growing racism in the society and he blames the society of the rich for making these thoughts as his default emotions which has remained with him throughout his life. When Daltons agree to give Bigger a job along with a room, he felt himself to be someone who is in need of charity. There is a dilemma of emotions in Bigger as he is upset with the society treating him as different from them and also when they treat him equal to themselves. ‘He hated himself at that moment. Why was he acting and feeling this way?’ These lines show that how frustrated he was with the meeting with Mr. Dalton. He felt helpless being in front of the white man whom he hated but he cannot express his feelings as he is just a puppet in their hands. He was full of anger as he was the product of white society where his anger was a disguise in fear. When he kills Mary, he sort of feels powerful and dominating to the needs of the society. He hated his family too for not loving him just the way he wanted but always asking for things they need. Bigger expresses his anger on Mary Dalton as being of the same age as Bigger, she is enjoying much more rights and freedom where as Bigger is not given any rights to even support himself and his family and siblings. Just like Sigmund Sassoon who is angered on …show more content…

He has separated himself from the other people to keep his anger and hatred intact. In the end, he understands the true meaning of what people wanted to express but failed to convey in its true meaning. When Bigger gets a death penalty, he then realizes and understands how wrong he was and how cruel he was to not get the love which wanted to give. This also connects it with the norm of lost generation that how people were treated and how they felt lost like in The Sun Also Rises, where people were enjoying party and merry making and here also Bigger was busy in enjoying his life with friends blaming whites for the ruining his

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