Richard Wright's famous book Native Son tells of a black boy named Bigger Thomas growing up in a world of oppression and racism. Throughout the book, it's clear that one man's actions can be traced back to several people's conduct. There is much debate regarding the responsibility for the actions and crimes committed by Bigger, mainly the murder of Mary Dalton, a young white woman. Bigger had suffocated Mary, then burned her in the furnace so her dead body would not be found by her family.
             One belief of readers is all of white society is responsible for Bigger murdering Mary. In Native Son, the white society in general is completely racist, discriminating against blacks. The whites force blacks to live in terrible conditions and crowded spaces. Just like Bigger trapping a black rat, the whites are trapping black society, closing them in a small district called the Black Belt. The whites also feel blacks are inferior and call them a separate race as if they aren't even human. They treat blacks as though they are less intelligent and more brutal, so that is how many blacks see themselves. Also, whites don't punish blacks for crimes against other blacks. Without the necessary discipline, blacks don't feel as much remorse over such crimes. The antithesis of that is if blacks commit crimes against whites, the consequences are phenomenal. Even if it is only thought or implied that an offense was committed, the black is punished, whether he is guilty or not. Due to that, blacks fear the whites and what would happen if they dared to even think about committing a crime against them. With all of this, it's no surprise blacks are avaricious towards the whites. Blacks are pressured into their violent, and sometimes illegal, actions by their hatred and fear for white society, taking out their anger and fear in the form of violence, drugs, and alcohol. The only reason Bigger ends up suffocating Mary is because he feared what might happen if he wa...