num_pages: 504
description: Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic.Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.
language: English
title: Native Son
titlecomplete: Native Son
characters: Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Dalton, Vera Thomas, Bigger Thomas, Buddy Thomas, Boris Max, Henry Dalton, Mary Dalton, Jan Erlone
genres: American, Historical Fiction, Novels, School, Literature, Race, African American, Classics, Banned Books, Fiction
ratings_count: 97370
places: Chicago, Illinois, Illinois
awards: name: New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
category: Best American Play
publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics