The Native Son by Richard Wright is a novel that highlights the unfair discrimination and inequality of blacks in 1930’s Chicago. Bigger Thomas is a poor, uneducated, twenty-year-old black man that lives with his family in a cramped apartment on the South Side of the city. In this novel it is apparent that Bigger has no control of his life and cannot aspire to be anything special. Society on the South Side of Chicago was restricting and oppressive for blacks.

In this novel Richard Wright explores the psychological corruption of Bigger Thomas to give the reader a new perspective on the oppression of racism in society. Bigger’s psychological damage derives from the constant barrage of racist propaganda and discrimination. The frequent bombardment of racism elicited a great deal of fear and anger in Bigger. After accidentally killing Mary Dalton, Bigger doesn’t feel guilt, but rather exultation. In this novel Wright illustrates that the oppression of racism has inevitably pushed blacks into an unstable state of mind. During Bigger’s trial his lawyer Max tries to prevent the death penalty by claiming that these actions were a product of Bigger’s environment. Ultimately, this proclamation displays that Bigger’s crimes belonged to the fearful, hopeless existence that he has experienced in a racist society since birth. Max states that if America does not end the vicious system of racism that more people like Bigger will come into existence in the near future.

Although murder is undeniably unacceptable in any society, I can’t help but feel bad for Bigger Thomas. Ever since birth Bigger had experienced the oppression of racism in society. Bigger was not a true hero, however, he demonstrated the detrimental effects of the social conditions in which he was raised.

Native Son by Richard Wright is a major work of American fiction and an incredibly important work in terms of American race relations. While other books we have read this term have disused political and social issues, Native Son stands out by disusing the causes of the issues rather than just the symptoms. More specifically, the novel discusses how media representation and an unfair system lead to a cycle of poverty and crime in the black community. throughout the book, Bigger has an understanding of the social inequality between races, as he demonstrates when he plays Whiteman with Gus and tells him about he would like to be pilot which both of them understand is impossible due to their race. This inequality is further driven home when we learn about Mr. redlining policies which prevent black families like his from having better living conditions. in contrast to his poverty and lack of opportunity, Bigger sees white people living in luxury and blessed with all possible opportunities. This dichotomy between black and white is enforced by the media. When going to the movies with his friends, Bigger first sees a film about a wealthy white woman living in luxury which was contrasted against another movie which portrayed Africans as savages. Wright argues that because of this racial dichotomy and lack of opportunity, many African-Americans feel like the system is rigged against them and commit acts of crime and violence against whites out of anger. This can be seen in both the lack of guilt Bigger felt after killing Mary and the way he mentally justified robbing Blum. This violence allows whites to justify their actions, thus perpetuating the cycle.

Richard Wright’s novel Native Son focuses on the experiences of Bigger Thomas in 1930s Chicago. The book opens depicting the dilapidated living conditions that Bigger, his brother, sister and mother are subject to, as well as a fight with a rat. I believe that Wright chose to include the killing of the rat to serve as a metaphor for the systemic racism that pushes blacks to live lives of crime. The rat is meant to represent Bigger, who was born into a world in which scavenging was the only means for survival. However, being caught scavenging, or stealing, meant being crushed by a skillet, or electric chair.

Unquestionably, social inequality is the central theme of this novel. All of the violence, crime and death that advanced the plot of the story can be directly tied back to the way Bigger’s life had been dictated by forces out of his control. He is pressured into illegal activity to maintain even the negligible living conditions shown in the first chapter. Systemic racism is also shown to affect the psyche of Bigger. He is so afraid of being caught in Mary’s room by Mrs. Dalton that he smothers Mary to death attempting to quite her. Interestingly, it is people like the Daltons that keep race relations in their unstable state. They may offer limited help to blacks in the form of jobs or ping pong tables, but they ensure the continued existence of racist structures in society as shown by their ownership of the apartments Bigger and his family live in.

As Bigger’s court case begins to wrap up its is clear that he will be sentenced to death for his crimes and in many ways he has accepted this fate. However, Bigger’s lawyer argues with the court that if they haven’t yet acknowledged his existence then how can he be put to death. For a fleeting moment this seems to spark a debate over Bigger’s death, yet after a brief recess, the judge returns and sentences Bigger to death.

Throughout the story, Bigger struggles to be acknowledged as a human by white people just as he struggles to see white people as a whole in a good light. While Max portrays the lead up to Bigger’s crimes as the result of white oppression, Bigger feels relief in knowing that white people, and more specifically the white people that knew him personally, understand their faults. However, ultimately, the judge ignores any fault white people may have had in damaging Bigger’s psychological health and still decides to sentence Bigger to death.

This ending is a hopeless one for the black population of Chicago in the story. Though presented with a case of how white oppression harms black people, as a whole the white people in the story seem indifferent to the struggling black families.

Before Native Son, Richard Wright published a collection of short stories under the title Uncle Tom’s Children.  It may not be too difficult to envision Bigger Thomas to be one of those children or, for that matter, to envision Bigger himself as a reincarnation of Uncle Tom.  Bigger clearly is not the sympathetic and appealing protagonist-hero who Uncle Tom was, and Bigger’s self-loathing contrasted sharply with Uncle Tom’s comfort (or at least acceptance) of his life and condition.

Nevertheless, both Tom and Bigger endured cruel lives and brutal journeys (the former perhaps more physically painful, the latter more psychologically painful) and died at the hands of and surrounded by uncaring or unresponsive institutions – Southern slavery and Chicago justice.  Both represented the (Christ-like?) agony of bearing the sins of others for the potential salvation of many.  In the end, as well, both stories suggested the possibility of hope – for Tom the hope that slavery’s end was possible or even in sight, and for Bigger the hope promised by his ability to finally recognize the humanity in at least one white man, Jan, and to see that recognition returned, however fleetingly.

Undeniably it is not easy to see hope in Wright’s Native Son (and it is hard to believe that Wright intended it); however, despite the ugliness of Bigger Thomas’ character and actions, I could not help feeling as emotionally moved by the tragedy of his life and death as I felt about Uncle Tom.

Denis Brennan

I think one of the greatest characteristics of Gatsby is that after he accumulated large amount of wealth and finally become a man that most people wanted to be, he still clearly remembered the beauty of his relationship in the old days, and he kept polishing it in his mind as well. Daisy stood as the perfect woman to Gatsby, which clearly she wasn’t. As Gatsby was born in a poor family that had nothing to do with the upper class, Daisy chose not to wait for him but married Tom, who came from a rich family. When finally Gatsby came back with huge wealth, he held parties everyday, as he was hoping that Daisy might stop by one day. When he finally caught Daisy’s attention, I think he realized that Daisy’s focus was more towards money instead of himself, but he still wanted to win Daisy over, the woman who was considered as his goal when Gatsby was at the battlefields.

Gatsby changed his name by himself, which I consider that he viewed himself as Jesus (Or he valued the virtues of Jesus and wanted to learn from Jesus?) Under such circumstances, he convinced himself to be royal to Daisy, even though he knew she was no longer the woman of perfection in his heart. Gatsby was used by Daisy and Tom, and died in the end.

During the time period, it was difficult for Gatsby to succeed, as he was not born in a rich family. Gatsby achieved American dream as he became really rich, but he was never truly accepted by people in upper class.

One thing that made me sad is that no one attended Gatsby’s funeral after he died. Those people who used to come to the party everyday suddenly disappeared, pretending they did not know the man. Daisy and Tom ran away from his death, too.

One question that I have when I was reading is :” Did Daisy kill Tom’s romantic partner purposely? or it was just an accident. I felt like she killed the woman deliberately.

When discussing the moneyed elite of society, we often do not make differentiations between the groups within the “one-percent.” Evident in The Great Gatsby, this stratification is a driving force of friction between the wealthy. At the turn of the century, individuals from humble origins acquired massive fortunes through a variety of enterprises. Jay Gatsby was a member of this “new money elite.” Even though their fortunes often paralleled those who came from wealthy families, they were often not welcomed by the “old money” elite, men like Tom Buchanan.

The tensions between Jay and Tom, which is caused by this social stratification, is based on historical reality. In the PBS documentary “The Gilded Age,” Caroline Astor, a daughter of “old money” who threw elaborate parties, often publicly feuded with “new money” elites, most notably the Vanderbilt family. As evidenced in The Great Gatsby, “old money” elites perceived themselves to be culturally superior to those of “new money” because their family traditions valued upper-class values and they did not have to work to keep their wealth. They saw “new money” as something morally wrong and corrupt. When Nick asked Tom about where he heard of Gatsby being a “bootlegger,” Tom replied, “I didn’t hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know.”

          The green light is a significant symbol within The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Gatsby saw the green light as something far away and difficult to grasp. Gatsby wanted to fulfill the American dream, and did so with extravagant purchases with his newly earned money; this only put him further away from the concept of “old money”, which Tom seemed to have. He lived a life of riches, but he learned that was not the life he wanted. He wanted wealth, but in a different form. He was envious of Tom, because of his respect and trophy wife. The green light shows society’s desire to achieve the materialistic American Dream. I think Fitzgerald included the theme of wealth/class because it represented his own pursuit of wealth and honor. 

          Tom’s wife, Daisy, was Gatsby’s love of his life, but he realised he could never truly obtain her because of her husband. She was a girl who he had fallen in love with in the past, and in a few chapters of the book, we see him waiting/hoping for her to come to his parties. Gatsby became even less confident once he saw Daisy’s child, he learned that there were many strings attached. The light symbolizes his yearning for Daisy, and its distance represents the predicament involved with his love. Daisy was desired by all of the young men in NY, so it meant that Gatsby must be the most worthy to get the girl. He thought Daisy would be a token of his enormous wealth, but there were many complications. The green light represented his dream, which is far away, and feels just out of reach.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a fictional novel that accurately depicts America during the roaring twenties. The 1920’s in America marked a period of dramatic social and political change. After World War one the stock market suddenly increased significantly, increasing national wealth and consumerism. America was introduced to extreme economic change, which redistributed wealth unequally among certain people. The Great Gatsby encompasses a story of love between a man and a women, however, entails a larger theme about the corruption behind the idolized American Dream.

In this novel the narrator, Nick Carraway, moves to New York from the Midwest in search of fortune. Nick moves into a small house in a town called West Egg in Long Island. Nick Carraway relocates next to a lavish mansion owned by a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is introduced as a wealthy man that throws wild luxurious parties almost every week at his mansion. As Nick immerses into New York’s wealthy social scene he gradually gets to know Gatsby. Nick eventually learns that Gatsby rose from an impoverished family in Minnesota and reinvented himself as a wealthy bootlegger. During the novel it becomes apparent that Gatsby is motivated to become wealthy and throws parties to attract Nick Carraways cousin, Daisy Buchanan. The two met prior to the war and fell in love as Gatsby was a commander in the army. However, after departing for war Daisy moved on and married a rich man named Tom Buchanan. Although Daisy Buchanan is married, Jay Gatsby is determined to win her over. In an attempt to win Daisy over Gatsby reinvents himself as a wealthy socialite by illegally distributing liquor. Even though Gatsby becomes extremely wealthy and throws lavish parties every weekend he is sad and lonely without Daisy. In this novel it becomes apparent that Gatsby cannot live without Daisy.

Although The Great Gatsby displays a romanticized story about a man and women it also reveals the larger picture behind the corruption of the American Dream. The American Dream represents the freedom of bountiful opportunities to achieve economic prosperity and success. The idea that anyone from any social background could potentially become wealthy was immensely attractive to the common man. However, in this novel the author uncovers the truth behind the unfair realities of the American Dream. Fitzgerald portrays the roaring twenties as an era of decayed social and moral values. The desire to obtain wealth and power surpasses moral and noble values. Money and stagnant social values corrupt the American ways in the roaring twenties. Throughout this novel Fitzgerald displays the greed and selfishness behind the ultimate goal of achieving the American Dream. Becoming rich by any means corrupted American society in the roaring twenties.

When people discuss and debate The Great Gatsby, three items/symbols in particular tend to always come up; the pool, the green light, and the billboard. The infamous billboard of a set of eyes advertising an oculist is an important aspect of Fitzgerald’s novel as it displays his thoughts on God’s role and feelings towards the 1920s society. The eyes are an omnipresent symbol that is described as staring and frowning at the characters as they partake in multiple love affairs, drive recklessly, and kill. The eyes watch, disapprovingly, upon the spectacle before them, never intervening, but always casting down judgement on the actions of the characters.

This is Fitzgerald’s way of conveying God’s presence in American society at the time. He watches as they engage in overindulgent behaviors, forgoing ethics, and instead becoming greedy, selfish, materialistic human beings. He never intervenes as Fitzgerald doesn’t think God has the power to do so, unable to truly understand what he created or how to control it, nor does he really want to. God watches and does nothing when Myrtle is gruesomely killed in a hit and run, and continues as simply a witness when Gatsby is murdered because he was believed to be the driver that killed Myrtle. God is detached from American society, not wanting/unable to create a bond with humanity.

God is perplexed, slightly disgusted, and overall, completely involved in his experiment of life on Earth. He’s uncaring, and cruel in Fitzgerald’s eyes, rather than the benevolent caretaker He’s usually depicted as. Most importantly, he’s just as confused about the behaviors of humanity as the rest of us.