Refutation: The Story of Bigger Thomas ( Native Son ) :: essays research papers

In Darryl Pinckneys discerning critical essay, Richard Wright The Unnatural History of a Native Son, Pinckney states that alone of Wrights books contain the themes of violence, inhumanity, rage, and attention. Wright writes some these themes because he expresses, in his books, his convictions about his own struggles with racial oppression, the brutal realities of his early life. Pinckney claims that Wrights works are unique for Wrights works did not assay to incite whites to acknowledge blacks. Wright does not write to preach that blacks are equal to whites. The characters in Wrights works, including Bigger Thomas from Native Son, are not all pure in heart the characters have psychological burdens and act upon their burdens. For instance, Bigger Thomas, long under racial oppression, accidentally suffocates Mary Dalton in her room for fear that he will be discriminated against and charged with the rape of Mary Dalton. Also, according to Pinckney, although the characters of Wright s books are under these psychological burdens, they always have futile hopes and desires. At the end of Native Son, Bigger is enlightened by the way his lawyer Max treats him, with the respect of a human being. Bigger then desires nothing only to live, hardly he has been sentenced to death.Although Pinckney expresses many strong points in his critical essay, he also reveals weak points. For example, Pinckney mentions that Wright is neither a black leader such as Malcolm X nor a writer with any strong background in American literature, yet Pinckney implicitly states that Wright is a great writer and that one mustiness analyze his past to understand how he is a great writer. In that perspective, he also commends Wrights book, Native Son. He statesNative Son is curious in its powerIt is not true as Baldwin claims that Bigger Thomas, the doomed, frustrated black boy, is just another stereotypeextreme in his wish to bruise himself and do injury to othersPinckney praises Native Son a s a powerful intellectual book that deals with issues of racism and oppression. He says explicitly that it is the most powerful book, but it is unclear what domain of books Pinckney is comparing Native Son with. Pinckney refutes James Baldwins statement about Native Son, saying that Bigger Thomas is not a mere stereotype, but an example of a stressed black boy of the racially segregated American society during the 1930s. It is true that Bigger Thomas is a victim of a racially segregated society.