Growing up in poverty, Wright experienced the struggles and limitations faced by Black families in the Jim Crow South. His firsthand knowledge of economic hardship is reflected in the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, who grapples with his socio-economic status throughout the novel.

Violence and Crime
Bigger's descent into violence and crime is a tragic consequence of the racism and injustice he faces. His acts are portrayed not as innate criminality, but as a response to the dehumanizing forces of white supremacy that leave him feeling powerless and enraged.

Identity and Humanity
A central theme is Bigger's struggle to assert his humanity and identity in a society that denies him both. His lawyer Boris Max argues that Bigger's crimes are the result of society stripping him of human dignity and compassion from birth.

Social Determinism
The novel explores how an individual's fate can be largely determined by their social circumstances and environment. Bigger's life of poverty and oppression sets him on an inevitable trajectory towards tragedy, reflecting Wright's critique of racial injustice as a systemic issue.

In depicting Bigger's psychological unraveling and the harsh societal forces that shape his life, "Native Son" provides an unflinching portrayal of the African American experience under Jim Crow racism that still resonates today.

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Wright's bold narrative challenged the status quo and forced readers to confront the deep-rooted scars of racial inequality. The novel had a profound impact, selling over 200,000 copies in just three weeks. It changed American culture forever by making it impossible to ignore the harsh realities of racial oppression.

However, the novel was also misread by some readers who failed to grasp the brutality of racism and its effect on the oppressed. Some readers downplayed the situation and showed little sympathy for the victims of racism. The novel also touched upon the more general tendency of human nature to discriminate against those perceived as different, inferior or threatening.

Wright's work set in the 1930s, a time when whites enjoyed socioeconomic advantages over blacks, also showed how race logic harms white American society. The novel illustrates that racism is destructive to both whites and blacks, although for different reasons. It dramatizes the "guilt-hate-fear complex" of whites and the "fear-hate-fear complex" of blacks that serve to sabotage good intentions across the color line.

Overall, "Native Son" was a powerful and controversial work that exposed the harsh realities of racial oppression and challenged readers to confront their own biases and prejudices. While it was misread by some, the novel had a lasting impact on American culture and literature.

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