The main character Bigger Thomas, a black man, has been robbed of his dignity, his pride, and his identity. ... Fate, part one of Native Son, tells the reader about Bigger Thomas. ... It is while killing a rat The rat's belly pulsed with fear. Bigger advanced a step and the rat emitted a long thin song of defiance, its black beady eyes glittering, its tiny forefeet pawing the air restlessly. ... pp. 9-10 The rat's purpose was survival. ...

• Word Count: 959
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Bigger Thomas: Human Being or Cold-blooded Killer? In his novel Native Son Richard Wright uses his main character Bigger Thomas to specifically describe the human emotions of whom most white Americans of the time saw as a run of the mill black delinquent. ... Wright conveys the Thomas family's financial situation with emphasis that poverty is common among African Americans of this time due to the "invisible force" of the white American oppressors refusing to offer equal opportunities for every man and woman. Bigger and his family live in a tiny one-bedroom rat-infested flat that th...

• Word Count: 1493
• Approx Pages: 6

Native Son - Richard Wright #1 Post-Reading After Bigger Thomas, the central character of this novel, has "murdered a white girl and cut her head off and burnt her body,"" he thinks that he has "created a new life for himself. ... His protagonist, Bigger Thomas, has a background which resembles Wright's. ... The Thomas' must live in their rat-infested apartment partly because no one will rent to blacks in any other section of town. ... Bigger Thomas is angry. ... These patterns include beasts, the rat, Bigger hunted as an animal, blacks shown as wild animals and Bigger po...

• Word Count: 2344
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School