Native Son Summary
Richard Wright

Everything you need to understand or teach Native Son by Richard Wright.

Native Son Summary & Study Guide
14 Student Essays
2 Encyclopedia Articles
15 Literature Criticisms
...and more

30 Native Son Lessons
20 Activities
180 Multiple Choice Questions
60 Short Essay Questions
20 Essay Questions
Pre-Made Tests and Quizzes
...and more

Native Son Summary

Richard Wright's 1940 novel, Native Son, was the first book by an African-American writer to enjoy widespread success. In fact, Wright's novel generated much popular and critical interest before it was even published. Three hours after the book hit the shelves, the first print run sold out. Soon a school of black American writers—the "Wright School"— began modeling itself after the author in the belief that candid art about the black...

(read more from the Study Guide)

Study Pack

The Native Son Study Pack contains:

Native Son Study Guide

Overview

Free Quiz

Characters

Setting

Social Concerns

Social Sensitivity

Techniques

Thematic Overview

Themes

Style

Criticism

Adaptations

Topics for Further Study

Compare and Contrast

What Do I Read Next?

Topics for Discussion

Ideas for Reports and Papers

Literary Precedents

Further Study

Bibliography

Encyclopedia Articles (2)

Native Son - Richard Wright - 1940

9,734 words, approx. 33 pages

Native Son - Richard Wright - 1940 Introduction Richard Wright's Native Son, the first bestselling novel by an African American man, broke new literary ground—although, like all groundbr... Read more

Native Son

3,548 words, approx. 12 pages

Native Son by Richard Wright Richard Wright, born in 1908 near Natchez, Mississippi, moved to Chicago with his family in 1927. In doing so the Wrights joined a steady stream of black families who l... Read more

Richard Wright Biographies (6)

Richard (Nathaniel) Wright

14,077 words, approx. 47 pages

Any serious discussion of the development of black fiction in modern American literature must include Richard Wright . He was the first black novelist to describe the plight of the urban masses and t... Read more

Richard (Nathaniel) Wright

3,968 words, approx. 14 pages

Richard Wright was a preeminent African-American writer whose influence on the course of American literature has been widely recognized. As Irving Howe has said, "The day Native Son appeared, Americ... Read more

Richard Wright

859 words, approx. 3 pages

The works of Richard Wright (1908-1960), politically sophisticated and socially involved African American author, are notable for their passionate sincerity. He was perceptive about the universal prob... Read more

Richard Wright

6,051 words, approx. 21 pages

"Yes, the whites were as miserable as their black victims, I thought. If this country can't find its way to a human path, if it can't inform conduct with a deep sense of life, then all of us, black as... Read more

Richard Wright

14,873 words, approx. 50 pages

Biography EssayAny serious discussion of the development of black fiction in modern American literature must include Richard Wright. He was the first black novelist to describe the plight of the urban... Read more

Richard Wright

9,726 words, approx. 33 pages

Richard Wright was born September 4, 1908 in Adams County, Mississippi. "I was born too far back in the woods to hear the train whistle, and you could only hear the hoot owls holler."1In an effort to ... Read more

Essays & Analysis (29)

Critical Essay by Jerry H. Bryant

8,620 words, approx. 29 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Desmond Harding

4,543 words, approx. 16 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by James Smethurst

7,587 words, approx. 26 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by James A. Miller

3,411 words, approx. 12 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Joyce Ann Joyce

9,377 words, approx. 32 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Trudier Harris

8,971 words, approx. 30 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Richard Gilman

323 words, approx. 2 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Granville Hicks

718 words, approx. 3 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Ralph Ellison

1,388 words, approx. 5 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Ronald Sanders

1,733 words, approx. 6 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Warren French

2,614 words, approx. 9 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by James R. Giles

3,394 words, approx. 12 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Owen Brady

1,283 words, approx. 5 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by Steven J. Rubin

1,764 words, approx. 6 pages

Read more

Critical Essay by William Dunlea

570 words, approx. 2 pages

Read more

Ebony and Ivory

1,752 words, approx. 6 pages

Richard Wright, a staunch African-American rights advocator born in 1908 on a plantation in Mississippi, lived in Memphis, Tennessee until his father abandoned him and his mother when he was seven. T... Read more

Native Son: Feline Frenzy

1,293 words, approx. 5 pages

Feline Frenzy Throughout the history of writing, cats have symbolized craftiness, misfortune, deceit and death. Richard Wright creates no exception to this reputation in his novel Native Son. Bigge... Read more

Blindness in "Native Son"

1,072 words, approx. 4 pages

In the novel Native Son by Richard Wright, Wright uses each character's perceptions, prejudices and biases to represent their "blindness" of truths. Wright argues that it is blindness that harms s... Read more

Native Son: the Themes of Book Two

1,411 words, approx. 5 pages

Book Two marks the transition between Bigger's flight and fate. There is a feeling of suspense that is sustained throughout Book Two. Bigger becomes more and more entangled in the webs of fate. Ma... Read more

Character Analysis for "Native Son"

441 words, approx. 2 pages

If you analyze the character `Bessie' in Richard Wright's Native Son you will see that she is a woman wrought with many conflicts both standing right in front of her face, and in her own mind. Through... Read more

Native Son: Polarity or Facade

1,212 words, approx. 5 pages

During the 1940s the nation was facing grave danger induced by turmoil created by race relations. The post-slavery era was succeeded by even darker period, one marked by passivity and institutional ra... Read more

Isolation in Native Son

901 words, approx. 4 pages

Bigger Thomas is isolated from both the black and white races due to his uncontrollable anger throughout the entire novel, Native Son, by Richard Wright. Bigger grows up poor and constantly discrimin... Read more

Native Son by Richard Wright

887 words, approx. 3 pages

Native Son by Richard Wright Native Son is a very popular book in our days. While reading it, the reader gets introduced to the social discrimination of the past. These times were not a long time ago... Read more

The True Story

608 words, approx. 3 pages

The True Story The book Native Son by Richard Wright is certainly a classic. I was pleased that such a good book was chosen as a class read. Usually I am bored or annoyed with pre-picked books, but... Read more

Society Is to Blame for Bigger's Actions in Native Son

1,209 words, approx. 5 pages

Society can make one feel many different emotions that can affect everyday life. The way people act is usually triggered by society's beliefs and customs. Society can make one feel fear, ra... Read more

Native Son

864 words, approx. 3 pages

The question is, "who is Bigger Thomas"" To everyone this answer will be different. From my perspective, Bigger Thomas is just a boy who is trying so deeply to be a man. Bigger is poor, black, and ... Read more

Native Son

1,821 words, approx. 7 pages

Fear is the mental state of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. This definition puts into words the emotion all humans have felt at one point in their lives. Fear can ... Read more

Native Son

915 words, approx. 4 pages

Around us are many people who are blind. Just walking down the street one can see people using a seeing eye dog, or reading signs printed in brail. All these people are blind, or in other words, they ... Read more

Native Son: A Personal Response

574 words, approx. 2 pages

For my summer reading project this year, I was assigned to read the book Native Son by Richard Wright. When I began reading, I must admit that I was slightly surprised that a book with that amount of ... Read more

Download the Study Pack