Richard Wright's Native Son includes a variety of characters that represent many personalities. Throughout this novel, Wright illustrates the ways in which blindness can cause humans to be ignorant when it comes to life. Simply saying "blindness" is a little vague though. Blindness is often associated with not being able to physically see; however, in the Native Son it symbolizes the inability to understand reality. It can be broken down into two components: "ability to see" and "willingness to see". All of Wright's characters blind themselves one way or another so that they do not have to face life's realities. This blindness is just another one if the details that Wright reveals.
As the only physically blind character in the novel, Mrs. Dalton plays a crucial role in the event surrounding the murder of Mary. Her blindness gives Bigger an opportunity to hide being in the room by accidentally smothering Mary to keep her quiet. Her blindness is also a symbol of the cycle of racism in the society: Mrs. Dalton's inability to see Bigger causes him to turn to violence, just as the inability of whites to see blacks as individuals causes blacks to live their life in fear and hatred (GradeSaver, 2003). Wright uses Mrs. Dalton's blindness throughout the novel to describe other characters that are figuratively blind for one reason or another.
Bigger Thomas, the main character, is a twenty year old living in a one bedroom apartment with his mother and two siblings. Bigger is blind in the fact that he is unable to see whites as individuals rather than a single oppressive mass. For example, he has difficulty understanding why Mary Dalton and her communist boyfriend, Jan, treat him as an equal when he is used to whites acting as if they are superior to blacks. When Mary and Jan ask Bigger to eat with them at a black restaurant "Bigger felt trapped he did not understand them; he distrusted her, really hated them.