Symbolism is an important part of Richard Wright's Native Son. One example of Wright's use of symbolism is the rat at the beginning of the novel. Parallels between Bigger and the rat are apparent. When the scene with the rat is more specifically examined, it becomes apparent that it is used to symbolize Bigger's emotions and feelings about his place in contrast to outside society. Richard Wright uses the rat scene to symbolize Bigger as a character and uses it as a tool to show many emotions Bigger has throughout the book.
             Richard Wright expresses the feeling of being trapped as Bigger instruct Buddy to "put that box in front of the hole so [the rat] can't get out" (5) Bigger feels trapped inside barriers of society. Wright uses the rat to foreshadow the feeling of being trapped, which becomes apparent to the reader about Bigger as the story progresses.
             Bigger is "trapped" by society due to racism and poverty and this leads to his desire for rebellion. Again, Wright physically represents Bigger with the rat by have the rat bite Bigger after he is cornered in by Bigger and Buddy. Bigger has the emotion to rebel against whites, because he feels trapped by them into a world of hopelessness.
             Wright portrays the character of Bigger as this low class, poor, miserable man. Wright uses a white cat in the book to represent the idea of this "white power." A cat can be seen a luxurious animal, especially in comparison to a rat. This shows that Wright was using the rat to represent Bigger. The rat is a big ugly, black rat. Bigger as a character is not shown to be a character the reader likes but a disgusting, low class human being.
             Wright's use of symbolism in Native Son is an effective tool for foreshadowing and underlying structures throughout the book. The rat scene is effective in many ways because it seems so insignificant until more closely observed. When Bigger's ends up in j...