Native Son

Name: Native Son
Author: Richard Wright

Richard Wright · 1940

Bigger Thomas shook white liberal America into confronting the rage produced by racism. Wright published it in 1940 and refused to let readers sympathize from a safe distance; the novel is deliberately brutal. Baldwin later criticized it, but that critical conversation is itself part of the canon.

The case against

on the writing style
“Wright’s writing is very much in the ‘tell, don’t show’ form”
a Substack review
on the message
“the books feels more like a ideological speech than it does a novel”
a book blog
on the last fourth
“The last fourth of the book is, admittedly, a bit preachy”
a book blog
on the final act
“the final act loses momentum with too many didactic monologues, psychological examinations and court proceedings”
a book blog