Week of November 28th--Native Son

1. Compare and contrast Bigger's attitude toward the world around him and Mrs. Thomas'.

2. Mr. Dalton and Jan Erlone both profess to be friendly towards African Americans, yet they are hostile to each other. Compare and contrast their attitudes towards African Americans and explain their mutual hostility?

3. How is really fear to blame for the muder of Mary (this is a comprehensive question, be thoughtful and think of all aspects of fear that lead to the murder of Mary)?

Chisom Oraedu (post 2): Native Son, November 14th

In 1986, a film adaptation of Native Son was produced as a remake of the original 1951film starring Richard Wright himself as Bigger. In the 1986 film, Bigger is portrayed much the same as he is in the book. He is a scared black man who accidentally kills a white woman and tries to cover his tracks. In the featured trailer, we see that Bigger is told by Mr. Dalton to drive Mary to school. Just like in the novel, Mary tells Bigger on the way that she does not wish to go to the university, but instead to pick up Jan, her Communist boyfriend. Mary tells Bigger in the novel, “’Bigger!’ ‘Yessum.’ ‘Turn at this corner and pull up on a side street.’ ‘Here, mam?’ ‘Yes, here…You’re not a tattle-tale, are you?...I’m not going to the University. But you can forget that. I want you to drive me to the Loop. But if anyone should ask you, then I went to the University, see, Bigger?...I’m going to meet a friend of mine who’s also a friend of yours’ (Wright 64). This scene in the novel is perfectly portrayed in the movie clip seen in the trailer. Also seen in the trailer is Bigger’s introduction to Jan by Mary. Although Bigger does not know it yet, this is the man that he will later try to frame for the murder of Mary Dalton. After Mary goes missing in the novel, Mr. Dalton introduces Bigger to a private investigator, Britten, who he hires to find Mary: “’Bigger,  this is Mr. Britten. He’s a private investigator attached to the staff of my office….He wants to ask you some questions. So just be calm and try to tell him whatever he wants to know’” (Wright 155). Mr. Britten goes on to question Bigger about what happened the night that he supposedly drove Mary to the University. In the novel, there is no violence involved in the interrogation, but in the film, Britten beats Bigger with a bat when he hesitates to answer a question. This shows that the film differs from the novel in some aspects; the characters in the film seem a bit harsher and more intense than in the novel. Later in the trailer, Bigger is seen in the street being confronted by Jan as to why Bigger is trying to frame him. When Bigger tries to retreat from the questioning, Jan persists. This causes Bigger to pull a gun on him. This is almost exactly how it happened in the novel. Bigger feels guilty that he is framing Jan, an innocent man: “Bigger felt guilty; Jan’s presence condemned him. Yet he knew of no way to atone for his guilt; he felt he had to act as he was acting…Jan had done nothing to him, and it was Jan’s innocence that made anger rise in him” (Wright 171). This confrontation on the street causes Bigger to see just how innocent Jan truly is. He does not deserve to be blamed for the death of Mary. But the anger that the guilt causes him proves to be too much, so he draws the gun. The trailer for the film adaptation of Native Son shows that it is an accurate interpretation of the source material that will help in its deeper analysis and understanding.

Week of November 14th--Native Son

1. At the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to the Thomas family. Describe this family and the conditions in which they live? Be descriptive and use concrete details!

2, The title of Book One is Fear, how is this title symbolic and prophetic at the same time? What was Wright's intention with this title?

3. What initial event happens in the beginning of the novel that is clearly a foreshadowing of events to come?

4. How does Bigger feel about his home and its surroundings?

5. Who are Bigger's friends and what event takes place that creates a level of aggression with these friends?

6. Who are the Dalton's, and where and how do they live?

Week of November 7th--Native Son

1. In the introduction, written by the author Richard Wright, Wright discusses at length the making of his protagonist, Bigger Thomas; he reflects on his childhood all the way up to his adulthood, and outlines specific examples of when he met a Bigger and the informing aspect of each incident. Please discuss the many Biggers that Wright experienced in the course of his life, and what did they ALL have in common. Please use concrete details to support your analysis.

2. Analyze the following quote from the introduction to Native Son, written by Richard Wright:

From these items I drew my first political conclusions about Bigger: I felt that Bigger, an American product, a native son of this land, carried within him the potentialities of either Communism or Fascism. I don’t mean to say that the Negro boy I depicted in Native Son is either a Communist or a Fascist. He is not either. But he is product of a dislocated society; he is a dispossessed or disinherited man; he is all of this, and he lives amid the greatest possible plenty on earth and he is looking and feeling for a way out.

3. What is at the heart of Bigger’s fears?