Native Son

Native Son,
novel by Richard Wright, published in 1940. With Paul Green he dramatized it (1941), and also produced and acted in a film version (1951).

Bigger Thomas, a black boy, reared in the slum world of Chicago, is led by his environment into a life of crime. His patronizing reception by Communist associates of his employer's daughter, combined with other circumstances, throw him into a confused mental state in which he accidentally murders the girl. In the ensuing flight, pursued by a mob, he kills his own sweetheart before he is captured and condemned to death.