Wrights Native Son as Communist Manifesto? :: Native Son Essays

Wright's Native Son as Communist Manifesto? Was Richard Wright's Native Son a story about his views towards Capitalism and Communism ? Did Richard Wright want to show the good and bad points towards Capitalism and Communism ? Or was this novel just about how a young man went through life and how society made him. Richard Wright's Native Son shows that he used the Dalton's, Thomas's, and Jan Erlone to represent Capitalism and Communism . After reading Richard Wright's Native Son, many believe the author purposely placed the Thomas family in a small, run-down home . The book shows this right from the start . Bigger and his family had to sleep in the same room, and big rats were running around the house . This shows the Thomas family represented the lower class, a trademark of Capitalism . I could not even imagine living there, especially with that huge rat .The house must have been very dirty and disgusting by today's standards . The author wanted to show how some families live under these severe conditions. He made us see vividly how they lived with this quote . "A huge black rat squealed and leaped at Bigger's trouser-leg and snagged it in his teeth, hanging on." This showed how broke they were by showing that there were giant rats living with them and how it had no fear of them . Richard Wright did not just not just want to show the con sides to Capitalism, he also wanted to prove the Capitalism has its good sides to it also . For instance, Richard Wright purposely placed the Daltons in a spectacular house and made them very rich and famous . Another trademark of Capitalism, the upper class. The author showed how some of the Capitalist folks lived . The upper class is very wealthy and basically gets what they want . Mr. and Mrs. Dalton had it made. They had chauffeurs, a huge house, and cars . They had too much money . They were giving away things to the needy, though they were giving away useless things to the needy like Ping- Pong tables. Richard Wright wanted to show that the upper class were afraid of the blacks . Not afraid of their individual physical strength, but