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Cover of Native Son by Richard Wright

Native Son

Richard Wright, Richard Wright - undifferentiated

  • 399 pages · about 7 hours
  • First published 1940
  • 75 editions
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1 About this book

Native Son (1940) is a novel written by the American author Richard Wright. It tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a 20-year-old black man living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s. Thomas kills a white woman at a time when racism is at its peak and pays the price for it.

While not apologizing for Bigger's crimes, Wright portrays a systemic causation behind them. Bigger's lawyer, Boris Max, makes the case that there is no escape from this destiny for his client or any other black American, since they are the necessary product of the society that formed them and told them since birth who exactly they were supposed to be.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Good for readers who want: a coming-of-age story and a classic.

  • Bildungsromans
  • Classics
  • Crime
  • Crime fiction
  • Murder
  • Murderers
  • Psychological fiction
  • Trials (Murder)

2 About Richard Wright

1908–1960

Richard Nathaniel Wright (September 4, 1908 – November 28, 1960) was an American author of novels, short stories, poems, and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries suffering discrimination and violence.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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