Native Son Symbols Rough Draft
Authors often utilize symbolism to represent an idea or a meaningful point that they want their readers to take away from the story. In Native Son by Richard Wright, he uses symbols to expose different aspects of his characters’ lives. Richard Wright has developed the main character, Bigger Thomas, and his ultimate fate by the use of various symbols in Native Son.
In the beginning of book one, the black rat depicts the trouble of being where one does not belong in society. Bigger is the literal depiction of the rat entering a white society. “Bigger caught the skillet and lifted it high in the air. The rat scuttled across the floor and stopped again at the box” (Wright 10). Due to the rat’s inability to find an escape path, it represents Bigger and his failure to hide from the police after they discovered his crime. Bigger could not escape the city just like the rat could not escape the apartment.“Bigger took a shoe and pounded the rat’s head, crushing it, cursing hysterically” (Wright 10). The rat relates to Bigger because the police do not let Bigger escape with just one punishment. They continue to
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“The street was quiet and no cars were running. The tracks were buried under snow. No doubt the blizzard had tied up traffic all over the city” (Wright 226). Not only does the white snow cover the darkness of the night, it also represents white people and society taking over Bigger’s life. In the novel, the light snowfall turns into a blizzard which is a symbol for Bigger’s one accidental mistake turning into a larger crime with the murder of Bessie. Also, the blizzard traps Bigger in the city by cutting off all transportation. This helps the police limit his movement and also represents white power to ultimately trap Bigger in the city. The snow is used to delay Bigger from fleeing his crime and escaping the ramifications of white