Albert's Reviews > Native Son

As I review the books I read I look at each reading experience as part of a journey. Where does this book fit in? How does it fit in? Has it changed my perspective on life? That is why I have gone from early in my GR experience where I did not review books or only reviewed the occasional book to now reviewing everything I read. Yes, reviewing a book helps me to remember what I have read and to understand what I have read. But more importantly, for me, reviewing a book helps me to fit that book into what I have previously read and influences what I will read in the future.

I don’t know why I have never read this novel before. Certainly I have been aware of it for many, many years. How did I not read it as part of one of my literature classes? Also, I found that I was not even familiar with the general plot? And, Oh was I shocked! A novel published in 1940, written by a black man about a young black man of 20, Bigger Thomas. A novel that contains violence as ugly and horrible as anything I have recently read. A novel that denies us any desire or motivation to sympathize with Bigger. This novel demands that we look at Bigger’s actions from all perspectives and asks who is responsible for his actions and the position in which he finds himself. I think that is what Wright accomplished with this novel. We must look at the results and not explain them with easy answers nor suggest corrective actions that will not change those results.

I know some readers found this novel hard to put down, continually wanting to find out what happened next. I felt that I knew the end at the beginning, and while the novel read easily, I often found myself picking it up with dread, not wanting to find out what happened next. To Richard Wright’s credit, the novel provides no easy answers but makes you think about actions, consequences and all the many variables that impact the two. Looking at our world today, especially in the United States, it is clear that this novel is as relevant today as it was in 1940.