Native Son

Native Son (ISBN 0060809779) is a novel by Richard Wright, first published in 1940. It tells the story of Bigger Thomas, an African-American of the poorest class, struggling to live in the Chicago, Illinois of the 1930s. His life, however, is doomed from the outset: after Bigger accidentally kills a white woman, he runs from the police, kills his girlfriend and is then caught and tried.

Related Topics:
Richard Wright - 1940 - African-American - Chicago, Illinois - 1930s

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Semi-autobiographical in tone, the story is a powerful statement about the inevitable fate of African-Americans as a result of racial inequality and social injustice. As Bigger's lawyer points out, there is no escape from this destiny for his client or any other black American, since they are the necessary product of the society that raised them.

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The book was an immediate best-seller, selling 250,000 hardcover copies in its initial run. The book was also one of the earliest successful attempts to explain the racial divide in America in terms of the social conditions imposed on African-Americans by the dominant white society.

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It has been filmed twice; once in the 1950s and again in the 1980s. Neither version is considered

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1950s - 1980s

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to have been an artistic success, despite Wright's involvement in the earlier version. It was adapted for the stage by Wright and Paul Green. The initial production, directed by Orson Wells, opened at the St. James Theatre on March 24, 1941.

Related Topics:
Paul Green - Orson Wells - St. James Theatre

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Native Son led James Baldwin to write his famous book with essays Notes of a Native Son (1955).

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James Baldwin - Notes of a Native Son

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In 1993 the novel was for the first time published in its entirety, together with an introduction, a chronology and notes by Arnold Rampersad, a well-regarded scholar of African-American literary works. This imprint, from HarperPerennial (ISBN 0060812494) also contains Richard Wright's 1940 essay How 'Bigger' Was Born.

Related Topics:
Richard Wright - 1940

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