Native Son

In the book Native Son the main character Bigger Thomas faces a very rough lifestyle that not many could handle. Growing up as an African-American kid in the 1930's is one of the most difficult tasks one can achieve. This can drive a man to do things he would normally not or would regret. Bigger Thomas was put into a position were he was set up for failure, to do something that would get him into trouble. In this book Bigger commits a series of crimes such as murder then also writing a ransom letter to cover it up. Bigger Thomas is a product of his society, living in these conditions in this time set him up to do the things that he did.

Being an African-American in this time period is very rough. Being poor and struggling to make it each day is not an easy thing to do and especially being black makes it even harder. Bigger is thrown into a corner after day in and day out always being hassled by his mother to get a job. When Bigger finally gets a job for a rich man being a chauffeur he is constantly around rich white men and women. One night when Bigger was with Mary he was cornered and scared and went to cover Marys' mouth but ended up killing her. He then proceeded to put her bones inside a furnace. He was scared and didn't know what to do and he just acted without thinking.