Native Son grips you from the very beginning with the bad choices of its 20-year-old main character, Bigger Thomas. Those choices culminate in the murder and beheading of a white female heiress socialite who, along with her communist boyfriend, place Bigger in several racially awkward situations that culminate in the ultimate dilemma that leads to deadly consequences. A decision that begs the question: can a person’s socioeconomic situation justify their actions?
Author Richard Wright explores redlining, police brutality, immigration and forms of white philanthropy that camouflages the desire to maintain white status versus solving entrenched social issues. The reader is pulled along as Bigger traverses stages of guilt, exorcising internal demons, enduring a blistering, racially charged inquest, to finally accepting one’s fate – death.
The only downside to this classic novel is that, at times, Wright gets caught up in his own literary genius and allows some sections of the book to be filled with long waxing prose that cause scenes to linger longer than they need to. That aside, this is a classic novel that’s a must read, even by today’s standard.