What Does Native Son's Title Mean?🤔😳👀

 Richard Wright's Native Son is a notable work of protest fiction that has the relentless ability to invoke discomfort in those reading it. Whether it be from relating to Mary or Jan, or the portrayal of women- specifically Bessie and Ms. Thomas- Native Son is a depiction of the societal adversities affecting the African American population from the perspective of an uncomfortable representative-Bigger Thomas. 

Readers may attempt to dissemble the larger pictures in the story and look for analysis of what Wright may be trying to portray, however, what many would think is the most obvious clue to Wright's intention within writing the book, often goes unnoticed. I'm talking about the title itself: Native Son. A title is a big clue into the author's mind, as it represents the story comprised of hundreds of pages, through- in this case- 2 words. Isn't that crazy? 

The title "Native Son" is an ode to the American nationality of Bigger. In regards to the book's setting, Bigger being African American means he is subject to the racist American society, meaning elemental racism, prejudice, bias, and poverty. Bigger is not outwardly patriotic, as he has no conscience, yet the narrator displays Bigger's resentment towards the world he lives in. One may infer, Bigger would not be the most patriotic fellow. Nevertheless, Bigger is native to the land of America, and he shows patriotism through the means of indignation. Throughout the book readers are introduced to characters that display their nationality, or rather, their American-ness in different ways, perhaps symbolizing patriotism to whatever it may have meant to the respective character. 

Wright includes textual evidence of patriotic variations depending on the character. Let's compare Mary and Bessie. Both are American, and both are female, so they would relate to the patriarchal aspects of the society they live in. However, Mary is white, and Bessie is black. Their world-views would have overlapping elements relating their experiences as women, but ultimately, would not be similar at all because of their races. When faced with becoming a fugitive with Bigger after she has become aware of his murder of Mary, Bessie laments: "Bigger please! Don't do this to me. All I do is work like a dog. From morning 'til night. I ain't got no happiness. I ain't never had none...Lord don't let this happen to me...I'm black and I work and don't bother nobody..." (Wright 153). Readers had been introduced to Bessie, and although she is one-dimensional, she is unhappy in her quality of life. This is primarily due to the lack of opportunities she has because of her race as the textual evidence has shown. She is as an alcoholic, to temporarily ease her out of the depressive life she lives. Comparatively, earlier in the book we see Mary drinking whiskey with Jan for their own enjoyment; to add an element of excitement to their lives. Bessie drinks to drown her sorrow, Mary drinks to have fun. Of course, Wright did not adequately explore these female characters enough to give the reader a sense of development, but this evidence is enough to conclude how Bessie and Mary would be disparate in terms of patriotism and their view of the world. 

It might seem ironic to compare and contrast two female characters to support my analysis behind the meaning of title "Native Son", but I believe the deeper elements like worldview, patriotism in regards to one's nationality, and circumstance are analogous. Behind the title of "Native Son" are the thousands of words rendering not only Bigger Thomas' story, but also the side characters that add on to the question Wright is supposedly proposing through his title. The question I believe is: What is the purpose of being patriotic and loving your country, when your country doesn't love you?