Student Question
In Richard Wright's "Native Son", what effect does the opening scene, with a family in one room and women dressing, create?
Quick answer:
The opening scene of "Native Son" effectively highlights the extreme poverty and cramped living conditions of the Thomas family. By depicting them in a single room where privacy is nonexistent, Wright emphasizes their financial struggles and dependence on government assistance. This setting immediately establishes the dire circumstances of Bigger and his family, underscoring the socioeconomic pressures that influence their lives and decisions throughout the novel.
By opening his novel Native Son in the cramped, small one room apartment, Wright is showing his audience just how poor the Thomas family is. In the first few pages, the reader sees how the is barely is surviving on government assistance- assistance which may soon run out if Bigger does not take a job with Mr. Dalton. The Thomas' family (Bigger, his sister Vern, his brother Buddy, and mother) are forced to share the small one-room apartment because it is all they can afford. By picturing them in such a small, dire situation, the audience realizes.
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