Richard wright biography native son by richard
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Chicago, New York and the Communist Party
Richard Wright's journey from the Jim Crow South to literary prominence in northern cities is a testament to his resilience and ambition. Though specific figures regarding his net worth at the time of his death in 1960 are hard to pinpoint, it is known that his works, especially "Native Son," garnered significant commercial success and widespread acclaim, securing his place as one of the leading literary figures of his time.
He published his first book, Uncle Tom's Children the following year. His early ambitions were rooted in a desire to break free from the confines of the South and to make his life meaningful.
Communist Party Native Son Black Boy Black Power
Native Son: Biography: Richard Wright
Richard Wright was born on September 4, 1908, on a plantation in Roxie, Mississippi.
Although Wright achieved great literary acclaim, over time he came to be harshly criticized by African-American scholars for his descriptions of black life in America, and for his stereotypical depiction of black women.
Plagued by financial difficulties and ill health, on November 28, 1961, Wright died of a heart attack at the age of 52.
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His grandfather had been born a slave, his mother Ella was a teacher and his father (before he abandoned his family) was a sharecropper.Wright was six years old when his mother took sole responsibility for him and his younger brother Leon.
Together, they had two daughters, Julia and Lorraine, who often found themselves at the center of a tumultuous home life.
It was during this time that he became deeply disillusioned with American capitalism, which sparked his interest in political ideologies. He also joined the American Writers Congress, under the auspices of the Communist Party.
In 1937, he moved to Harlem, New York, where he became the Harlem editor for the Daily Worker, a Communist newspaper.
Soon after, he began writing poetry. ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ by Zora Neale Hurston is a similar book in this category not only because both books are set in the same 1930s reality, known popularly as a dangerous time in America for blacks and other people of color, but because they all explore the stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudices faced by African American – with Wright tackling it from a male’s perspectives, while Hurston does her from a female standpoint.
The Lasting Impact of Native Son
Richard Wright’s ‘Native Son’ is not a book that appeals to everyone, and this is because it carries deep – and to a great extent subjective personal – opinions on the unfair treatment of black people in America in the far 30s.
The family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where they were forced to live in the type of poverty portrayed in Native Son. Although his mother found work as a cook, the family was forced to move between relatives in Arkansas and Mississippi, so Wright could only attend school sporadically. Through these works, Wright forged a powerful voice that articulated the struggles of African Americans, making him a pivotal figure in both literary and cultural spheres.
As the grandson of slaves and the son of a sharecropper, his family faced significant economic struggles. After living in Mexico from 1940 to 1946, his disenchantment with both the Communist Party and the prevailing attitudes of white America led him to seek refuge in Paris. By then he had left the Communist Party and had moved to France where he joined the literary society of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone Beauvoir, Gertrude Stein and Andre Gide.
Commercial and Critical Successes
Richard Wright achieved significant commercial and critical success through his innovative writing that explored the complexities of race, poverty, and identity in America. By the age of 16, he had his first short story published in a Southern African American newspaper, igniting his passion for storytelling.
Wright's formal education was limited to the ninth grade, but his voracious appetite for literature fueled his intellectual growth. Wright’s Harlem contemporaries like Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes acknowledged his work – even though none of them – who were all black writers – could muster the courage and create such a book with such a high level of controversy.
Books Related to Native Son
The story of ‘Native Son’ is the kind of book that talks about an opinion a lot of people feel and share but are afraid to say because they might be canceled by society or face other negative repercussions.
Born on September 4, 1908, in Roxie, Mississippi, Wright faced many adversities stemming from his heritage as the grandson of slaves and the son of a sharecropper. And sadly, although he graduated as valedictorian, he was afterwards forced to drop out of high school after only a few weeks to support his family.
Next, the family moved to the South side of Chicago, the primary setting of Native Son, where he worked as a postal worker, an insurance salesman and a hospital orderly.
In his search for personal and professional liberation, Wright moved a lot – from Mississippi to Tennessee to Chicago and then to Harlem, New York City, where he finally wrote and published his book ‘Native Son.’
Having tasted the literary waters with his previous books such as ‘Uncle Tom’s Children,’ Wright utilized the naturalism device to bring together all the observations and social experiments he had seen play out against the lives of many black people he had come across in the cause of his interstates, intercity travels – the product of which becomes the fearlessly audacious book, ‘Native Son.’
For a book known for its blatant and aggressive portrayal of violence, vulgarity, and sexual misconduct, ‘Native Son’ (later banned for this but not until the late 1990s) was a surprise book that was present in bookstores and public shelves in the 1940s.