Bigger Thomas of Native Son can be read as a continuation of the character Big Boy, a connection that is implied by their names. In this sense, Native Son extends the process of cruel discovery that begins in "Big Boy Leaves Home," and "Big Boy Leaves Home" provides sociological documentation for a character like Bigger.

Wright's autobiographical Black Boy recounts the first seventeen years of his life and provides a parallel to the sort of experiences dramatized in Uncle Tom's Children. As in "Big Boy Leaves Home," Wright's own life included violent confrontations, racist hatred, and an escape from the South.