Richard Wright as Novel's Narrator
Richard Wright's narrative style starkly contrasts with Hemingway's lean prose, which was guided by his iceberg theory. Native Son is also different from Faulkner's 'stream of consciousness' novels, as Wright uses the omniscient narrator to explain the protagonist's thoughts. While all three of these authors wrote about deeply personal subjects, Richard Wright seems to be injecting the most blatant, direct commentary into his novel, by his narrator's analysis of Bigger Thomas' psychology.
"The moment a situation became so that it exacted something of him, he rebelled. That was the way he lived; he passed his days trying to defeat or gratify powerful impulses in a world he feared." Pg. 42
Because the issues brought up in this novel are intended to make a political statement, it seems that the narrator's voice is that of Wright himself. If one agrees with that assumption, what does the overall tone of the novel seem to be (only analyzing part 1, "Fear") ? Is it complete sympathy for Bigger and total condemnation of whites in society or is it a call for black men to be more ambitious and rise above their surroundings, as Wright himself did? To what degree does the narrator place responsibility on Bigger for his own actions?
1 comment:
I think the novel is trying to show the psychological effects of segregation and how it effects people. I don't think there's anyway we can sympathize much with Bigger; afterall, didn't Bigger murder a woman as a result of lust? He took advantage of a girl who was passed out, and then killed her out of panic rather than being found out and dismissed. It's not like Bigger would've been lynched for carrying Mary into her bedroom, it's when he starts raping her that led to his situation. And that act wasn't the fault of white society; rapists can come in any form.
I'm finding the novel kind of irritating because it comes out and explicitly explains everyone's feelings. There's room for interpretation of certain smaller symbols, but motivations are completely fleshed out. I'd have liked a little uncertainty to consider for myself.
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