Native Son: Reviews
Native Son, by Richard Wright, was hailed by reviewers as an instant
classic upon its release in 1940. The novel was an instant bestseller, having
been included in the book-of-the-month-club. Due to its proto revolutionary
themes it was the subject of many reviews. Two such reviewers are Clifton
Fadiman and Malcolm Cowley.
Clifton Fadiman, writer for The New Yorker declared that Native Son was
the most powerful American novel since the Grapes of Wrath. He is positive that
anyone who reads this book has to know what it means to be a Negro, especially
being a Negro in the U.S. over seventy years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Fadiman then goes on to compare the novel to Theodore Dreiser's An American
Tragedy, declaring that his novel did for the American white as Native Son did
for the Negro.
Fadiman begins criticizing Bigger Thomas, the main character in the
novel. He feels that Bigger is just a stupid fool, having done everything
possible to......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 767
Approximate Pages: 3 (260 words per double-spaced page) |