Native Son by Richard Wright Book Review

In the novel, Native Son, Richard Wright introduces the reader to Bigger Thomas. Bigger Thomas is a 20-year-old, uneducated African-American who does not have a wide variety of education in his life. Many African Americans have made progress achieving more education, for several reasons, but unlike others Bigger’s age, he struggles to achieve greatness. He strives to find his place in the world, but there are blind spots, such as education and powerful people, in his way. While some African-Americans and other Americans get the significant development of knowledge, Bigger has little schooling because of his cultural background and his lack of money.

Bigger Thomas, having little to no education in his early life, struggles finding jobs and making money to provide for himself and his family. In the novel, Native Son, Bigger Thomas proclaims, “I could fly one of them things [a plane] if I had the chance…,[Gus, Bigger Thomas’ friend, replies] if you had some money and if they’d let you go to that aviation school, you could fly a plane” (Wright 16-17). Bigger is an extreme character because of his future psychological as well as legal issues of violence despite his limited schooling. Without having a solid foundation, more of people’s goals become harder to accomplish throughout life. Bigger’s ambitious goal, metaphorically, is to fly a plane one day. Although he thinks that he can one day achieve greatness, Bigger finds that achieving high goals is harder to accomplish without an education. Bigger’s life is a difficult because he has a constant struggle and had little to no education. Along with Bigger’s constant struggle, he only has up to an eighth grade learning ability. Bigger had responsibilities earlier than some to help his mother with the care of his siblings. Bigger often had to teach himself through experiences he faced as well as lessons from his mother.

Children of all places struggle when education comes around. Sometimes, children, as well as young adults, are busy helping out their parents; they end up not getting the opportunity to learn new things. Basma Hajir, as well as Kevin Kester, wrote in “Toward a Decolonial Praxis in Critical Peace Education” that, “It offers individuals a deeper understanding of the forces that affect their lives and stimulates them to respond at both a micro and macro-level” (Hajir 518). Education is the foundation upon which people will build their lives. Learning has the ability to help anyone and everyone to achieve more extraordinary things in the future. Education lends itself to helping out different individuals at different levels of learning. Bigger Thomas had to receive some of his limited education differently from others his age, whether from his mother or through personal experiences. Along with not having much education, Bigger struggles to learn more because of his racial background and his poverty. He never received the best opportunity to learn like others his age because of his cultural background.

Americans have many different cultural backgrounds. For children, being from cultures that do not make education a priority or cultures to which education is not as available, they may struggle for generations without the gifts that a formal education provides. Many people theorize that the level of education, and its availability to individuals, is affected by these different cultural qualities. In other words, the gift of learning is not necessarily shared equally by all cultures. Duchess Harris, as well as A.W. Buckey, draw to people’s attention in Class and Education that, “Different cultures have different ways of thinking about what an education is, why it matters, and who should get one” (Harris 14). Many different cultures have different approaches to dealing with education. Not everyone has the ability to get the education they need. Bigger was not able to get the type of education he deserved because of his poor lifestyle as well as his cultural background. Bigger often feels hatred with his mother and siblings because he dislikes the fact that he has little education to help them out of their terrible poverty.

As the times progressed to today’s generation, more people of different cultural backgrounds and characteristics are able to experience the joy of education through new government policies and laws. New practices and theories are coming in regards to Multicultural Education. Georgeta Rata, as well as Hasan Arslan, correspond in Multicultural Education: from Theory to Practice that, “Multicultural education represents the ways in which we differ from each other, including ethnicity, race, religion and gender characteristics” (Rata 15). With knowledge, provided with further education, people have the ability to learn more in regards to each other’s cultures. Many different cultures learn new things, while some do not have the luxury. While perfection may be an optimistic goal, improvement is certainly the target. Bigger Thomas never got the experience of learning in regards to new cultures as well as new realities. Bigger associates whites as collective and overthrowing because back in that time period, they were...

Policies, as well as laws, are available to help out the younger generation in order for them to live a better life with proper education. Policies are essential to the majority of people because of their plan to help the world out in the future. Jie Zheng, as well as Dip Kapoor, write down in “State Formation and Higher Education Policy” that “Education policy is considered as a social and historical process, where power and politics are deeply embedded…” (Zheng 180). Education helps with a child’s social as well as historical background and development. Learning in regards to other’s social and historical backgrounds help people comprehend better as they grow. Bigger struggles in life due to not being educated properly, which does not help him to achieve greater possibilities like whites are able to do.

To sum up everything that has been stated, Bigger’s lack of education contributes to him having a predetermined life of not living up to higher standards. Although Bigger is different minded from others his age, he and other young adults struggle to gain an education and apply for jobs that have specific requirements. Education is the answer that the majority of people struggle to suggest because they are either undetermined or aim for a different journey. Bigger lives in a world where he fears the presence of whites because they control his life. Many young adults with a good education are predetermined as well as likely perform better whether it be at their job or the real world.