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Native Son is divided into three books entitled Fear, Flight and Fate, depicting the final days of Bigger Thomas. The story is set in the Depression-era and Bigger is the novel's twenty-year-old protagonist, a resident of the "Black Belt," a Chicago ghetto that is predominantly black. Bigger lives in a one-room apartment with his mother ("Ma") and younger siblings, Vera and Buddy. The depressing mood of the novel is set in the opening scene: Bigger is awakened by the screams of his sister and mother. An overgrown, yellow-fanged rat is prowling around the room. Bigger and his brother back the rat into a corner and as the rat strikes back, tearing a gash in Bigger's pants, Bigger strikes the rat dead, crushing its head with a heavy iron skillet. Bigger's life is miserable and after a stint in a reform school, he remains bitter and angry about poverty and racism. Bigger's dream is to become an aviator but instead he is given a job through the relief agency-a chauffeur for a white millionaire-philanthropist named Henry Dalton. Ma warns Bigger to avoid his gang and set aside his criminal habits, lest he end up in the "gallows." Ma is unable to relate to Bigger and he is unresponsive to her religiosity and her overtures on "manhood." When Ma asserts that Bigger would go out and get a job if he "had any manhood in him," Bigger resents his mother for her dependence upon him. While he sincerely cares about his family, Bigger knows that he will never be offered the type of job that would allow him to offer his family substantial support. Despite Ma's prophetic warning, Bigger goes to Doc's pool hall to meet his gang and he suggests that they rob Blum's Deli. Bigger is inwardly afraid to rob Blum and so he projects his fear onto Gus, another member of the gang, hoping that the argument will prevent the gang from organizing themselves to attempt the heist. Bigger suggests the robbery because he wants to appear tough but when Gus calls his bluff, Bigger gets angry and pulls a knife. The stir that Bigger causes does more than prevent the gang from robbing Blum's; Bigger's raucous behavior gets him thrown out of Doc's pool hall.
Approximate Word count = 1461
Approximate Pages = 5.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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