Free Native Son Essays: Society or Personal Responsibility :: Native Son Essays

Native Son: Society or Personal Responsibility  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã¢â‚¬ËœDoes society create people or do people create society.’ Does one’s surroundings create a person or does a society create that person’s surroundings, ultimately creating a fate for that person. There is a very interesting portrayal of this idea in a book called Native Son by Richard Wright. It gives one an inside look on how a young African-American man grows up in the 1930’s, how crime affects him and how his surroundings and society have created his life and fate.    Bigger Thomas, the young man who’s life is portrayed in this striking book, did not necessarily have homicide in his fate. However, throughout all the negative experiences Bigger has experienced, it is not surprising to one how he fell into his situation. Bigger grew up in poverty, without a father, with discrimination leaking from cracks in the walls of his family’s one room rat infested apartment. He grew up on the south side, the black area of town, where everyone lived in apartments such as his. This of course was not by choice but by white entrapment, and the oppression and slavery of African-American people and those morals and traditions which are still upheld in this country today. This is not to say that it is completely society’s fault; it is everyone’s fault through neglecting the obvious. However, even through poverty the south side may have been able to come together to create a basis, a stable place for their children to grow up in. I am not blaming them, though. Racism was obviously rampant and it may have been impossible to come together when everyone was forced to put themselves first. With the theories of racism and hate engrained into society, how easy could it be to break free of discrimination and make something of yourself? â€Å"Down here in Dixie we keep Negroes firmly in their places† (P.324). When so much effort is put into keeping people separate and hating someone, for whatever reason, it gives a person a reason not to care what happens to them in terms of their lives. If nobody else cares what you do, then why should you? I think this is what Bigger felt when he was growing up. I think he also saw white people as such a high power that he was unable to do anything about what he felt was wrong.