10-1 Richard Wright

Richard Wright came from a very troubled past.  Throughout  his life he struggled with the ideals of racism and felt its effects.  He was abandoned by his father at a young age, but still pushed forward and excelled in school.  Although he was a very talented writer he had trouble getting established.  He fled up north first to Tennessee and then later to Chicago.  He became and member of the communist party and they supported many of his works.  He writing reflected much of his life and he used his experiences to write his stories.  In the excerpt from, "Native Son" Wright mentions the communist party and what there goals were.  The story picks up as Bigger Thomas is getting ready for a job interview.  He lives with his mother and sister in a one bedroom apartment for eighty dollars a month.  He is nervous and skeptical about taking this job because he is extremely uncomfortable in a white neighborhood.  He lives in a place where black and white people rarely mix.  He goes anyway heavily armed with a knife and a gun to give himself peace of mind.  He arrives and finds the Dalton family warm and inviting.  Bigger's expectations of the family were far from what he expected.  They are warm and inviting considering they are " white people" and he feels angry.  I think his anger stemmed from just not understanding their way of life.  He finds himself taking their daughter Mary to school that very same evening, but when they arrive she tells him to keep going.  She instead goes to a communist party meeting and meets up with her boyfriend (I am assuming) Jan.  Jan and Mary are full of spirit and drive to change the world, but at the same time they are arrogant.  They make Bigger very uneasy and should have been more understanding of his view of the situation.  Although Bigger is highly uncomfortable and angry he finds himself going along with their plans for the night.  They ask to go to a local color restaurant to eat and he finds himself the butt of the joke among his fellow color people.  Everyone wants to know why he is eating with two white devils.  Soon the anger fades as they all three become drunk with shots of rum, and they head for a drive.  Bigger finds himself attracted to Mary and hates her for it, and likewise she shows a slight attraction toward him.  The sexual tension and anger build throughout the story. When Bigger and Mary arrive back at the home, Bigger realizes how drunk Mary really is.  He tries to resist temptation time and time again, but in the end he can not.  Bigger carries Mary to her room and in their drunken states inhibition is lost.  They begin to kiss and kissing leads to touching.  Bigger is startled by Mrs. Dalton and  he dosent want her to know he is there.  Mary is being loud so he accidently smothers her in order to keep his presence a secret.  A black man with a white woman was not acceptable.  He was so worried about being caught her killed her.  It was shocking and ironic.