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  • Essay / Portrayal of African American Women in The Novel Native Son

    In The Native Son, Richard Wright cultivates supporting characters as threats to the main character Bigger in ways that range from very significant to extremely minimal. Analyzing the way African American women are portrayed in the novel, we see a common negative feeling shared by Bigger towards them. Feminist scholar Trudier Harris' argument that black women in this story are portrayed as "stifling Bigger's dreams of freedom and success" is entirely true and is both sexist and demeaning of the from Wright. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an original essay From Bigger's interactions with his mother, readers are able to recognize Bigger's feeling that his mother's sole purpose is to frown upon him and ridicule him for his faults. He has a constant feeling of hatred towards his mother and feels like she is the reason he is not destined for greatness because it is her "bad attitude" towards him that keeps him in a state where he is mentally oppressed, eventually causing him to settle down. for being physically oppressed as well. In the novel, Bigger always describes her as if she bothers him and complains a lot about the things he misses. In the small moments that Mrs. Thomas is shown in the story, she is always portrayed as having some sort of animosity or anger towards Bigger, because Wright portraying her this way reinforces the racist and demeaning idea of ​​the stereotype of the “angry black woman”. . Additionally, Mrs. Thomas' only problem with Bigger is that he fails to provide for their family financially, thus reinforcing the idea that women must depend on men and are unable to effectively provide for their families. family. Although Bigger's interactions with his younger sister Vera are very short, readers can add these interactions to the growing case showing Bigger and Wright's underlying sexist attitudes specifically toward African American women. In the story, Vera is depicted as a very scared character who also represents someone who is a nuisance to Bigger. The character of Bessie also fits into the similar persona that Wright created for all of the female characters in the novel. She harasses Bigger and ridicules him for his faults and mistakes. She shows great dependence on Bigger, like every other black woman in the story, however, Bessie proves herself to be not only the weakest black woman, but also the weakest character in the entire novel. Throughout Bigger's plan to get money from the Daltons and flee his crime, Bessie is portrayed as a crying wreck, who does nothing but sob and sob about the mess Bigger has gotten her into. “She ran to the bed, fell on it and sobbed. “With her mouth all twisted and her eyes wet, she asked panting” (p. 225) Although her reaction could be considered reasonable for someone in her position , I see her as Wright intentionally making her a weak character who doesn't know how to deal with problems in a way that will benefit her. For the sake of such character analysis, it is also important to consider what Bigger and Bessie's relationship is based on - a satisfaction of each other's personal desires. Bigger only comes to Bessie when he needs comfort and sex and Bessie only seems invested in Bigger when he provides her with alcohol or money. Although the relationship is detrimental to both..