In this paper the author tried to analyze “Native Son” by Richard Wright. The purpose is to analyze and understand the concept of othering. Theories that used are textual, cotextual, and hypertextual by close reading method. The writer found that this novel consist of othering as the result of discrimination. In conclusion, “Native Son” by Richard Wright s is easier to understand by analyzing othering.
2. Abstract
In this paper the author tried to analyze “Native
Son” by Richard Wright. The purpose is to analyze and
understand the concept of othering. Theories that used
are textual, cotextual, and hypertextual by close
reading method. The writer found that this novel
consist of othering as the result of discrimination. In
conclusion, “Native Son” by Richard Wright s is easier
to understand by analyzing othering.
Keywords: Othering, discrimination, Native Son,
Richard Wright
3. Introduction
“Native Son” written by Richard Wright
portrays a life of coloured people under
oppression from whites. The main character is a
fusion of what coloured people expected and a
portrait of young Richard Wright, hateful and
violent. This novel shows that the blame is not on
white people because they also get the negative
impact of racism. The cause of those problems is
the structure of American Society and economic
condition that should be changed.
4. Native Son
Set in Chicago in the 1930s,
Native Son is a story of
Bigger Thomas life that
comes to a head after he
kills Marry, a white woman
by mistake. As the result, he
has to deal with the
consequences for being
black: suffers from
oppression, discrimination,
and poverty.
5. Othering
In “Othering, an Analysis”, Lajos Brons defines othering:
“Othering is the simultaneous construction of the self or in-group
and the other or out-group in mutual and unequal opposition through
identification of some desirable characteristic that the self/in-group has
and the other/out-group lacks and/or some undesirable characteristic that
the other/out-group has and the self/in-group lacks. Othering thus sets up
a superior self/in-group in contrast to an inferior other/out-group, but this
superiority/inferiority is nearly always left implicit.” (69)
In another word, othering is an act of self or group that identifies the
preferred or hated characteristics of other persons or groups, causing a
sense of superiority or inferiority that not too obvious. In “Native Son” by
Richard Wright there are several othering that can be found from white
people to colored people and vice versa.
6. "And, too, they had never held up a white man before. They had always
robbed Negroes. They felt it was much easier and safer to rob their own
people, for they knew that white policeman never really searches diligently
for Negroes who committed crimes against other Negroes." (p. 52)
Robbery rate was higher that time. Even though robbery happened
in many area, in many social rate, white policeman only care about their
own race; they did not want to know about what happened outside their
own race. They had this stereotype : 'Most robbers or criminal were black
people'. Because of that, robbing in black neigbourhood was easier than
robbing in white neighbourhood.
7. " If you wasn't black and if you had some money and if they'd let you go to
that aviation school, you could fly a plane,' Gus said." (p. 55)
From the quotation above, it linked to the education system that
time. According to Jim Crow law, black and white people are prohibited for
attending the same school; this rule applied till college. Besides, rich black
people were so rare. Black people roled as manual workers and they were
waged with low standard.
"Goddammit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they
white. They got things and we ain't. They do things and we can't." (p. 58)
The quotation are from the black people perspective. They realized
that they were powerless in their own country, they had been intimidated.
A lot of things that white people can and black people can not. Even for
living, they had to be separated.
8. He was filled with a sense of excitement about his new job. Was what he had
heard about rich white people really true? Was he going to work for people like
you saw in the movies . . . ? He looked at Trader Horn unfold and saw pictures
of naked black men and women whirling in wild dances . . . . (p. 72)
This passage from chapter one appears as Bigger sits in the movie
theater, thinking about his new job as the Daltons’ chauffeur. From these part,
we see just how little contact Bigger has had with white people and the
popular culture in determining societal attitudes, as Bigger is only able to
imagine the Daltons’ lives by drawing upon movies that portray rich white
people. It is indicates that Bigger’s attitude about whites are determined by
popular culture. That is why the Americans (especially Bigger) imagine of
blacks as savages and whites as millionaires.
9. He was going among white people, so he would take his knife and his gun;
it would make him feel that he was the equal of them, give him a sense of
completeness. Then he thought of a good reason why he should take it; in
order to get to Dalton place, he head to go through a white neighborhood.
He had not heard of any Negroes being molested recently, but he felt that
it was always possible." (p. 81)
Black and white people had separated neigborhood that time. Bigger
scared but also excited to go through the white neighborhood. He scared
because anything could happen to him and excited because he had his gun
with him; it made him feel fine.
10. " 'Bigger, please! Don't say sir to me.... I don't like it. You 're a man just like I
am; I'm no better than you. Maybe other white men like it. But I don't. Look,
Bigger....' " (p. 110)
This quotation is from Jan's perspective. That time, white people
prefered being called 'Sir'. Calling them as 'Sir' showed the colored people
gratitude toward them.
"He scratched his head. How on earth he learn not to say yessuh and yessum to
white people in one night when he had been saying it all his life long?" (p. 112)
It is an irony. Colored people had been 'trained' to say 'Yes, Sir' or 'Yes,
Ma'am' all the time. White people forced them; make them didn't equal as
them.
11. "Cautiously, Bigger looked round; the waitresses and several people at other
tables were staring at him. They all knew him and he knew what they were
wondering as he would have wondered if he had been in their places." (p. 113)
Based on Jim Crow law, restaurants wee also separated from white and
colored people. It was strange to colored people that white people ate in a
colored people restaurant. They can't help but stare at them.
"He was black and he had alone in a room where a white had been killed;
therefore he had killed her." (p. 114)
Bigger Thomas had imagined what will people react. No matter what he
said, people will judge him because he was a black. It has set on people's mind
that black is always wrong.
12. Gee, what a fool she was, he thought, remembering how Mary had acted.
Carrying on that way! Hell, she made me do it! I couldn’t help it! She
should’ve known better! She should’ve left me alone, goddamit! (p. 151)
That parts are the emotional expressions of Bigger when he
remember what he has done, he was not feeling sorry for killing Mary, he
felt that his murder of her was more than amply justified by the fear and
shame she had made him feel. That feel not only because of Mary when
he reacting to, but emotions conditioned by many white people like Mary.
13. He pictured her groping her way, her hands touching the walls. Sme must know this house
like a book, he thought. He trembled with excitement. She was white and he was black; she
was rich and he was poor; she was old and he was young; she was the boss and he was the
worker. He was safe; yes.(p. 167)
Richard Wright give othering expression in this part. Differences between the white
and black are contrastly showed in that part. The author shows the commonly perception of
American people about white and black folks, that the rich and the boss are always be white
and the poor and the worker are always be black.
'Well, you see 'em one way and I see ' em another. To me, a nigger's a nigger" (p. 202)
That was what Britten said about Bigger. He did not care about each person's quality,
he only thought since Bigger was a black not a white, and a black was a nigger, so a nigger
was a nigger and all nigger was the same. He only think about people on two ways, either he
is a black or a white.
14. “Listen, Bigger,” said Britten. “Did you see this guy [Jan] act in any
way out of the ordinary? I mean, sort of nervous, say? Just what did
he talk about?
“He talked about Communists. . . .”
“Did he ask you to join?”
“He gave me that stuff to read.”
“Come on. Tell us some of the things he said.”
Bigger knew the things that white folks hated to hear Negroes ask
for; and he knew that these were the things the Reds were always
asking for. And he knew that white folks did not like to hear these
things asked for even by whites who fought for Negroes. (p. 234)
In this part from chapter two, which Mr Britten questions
Bigger about Mary’s disappearance, Bigger try to deflect suspicion
from himself away by making the police believe that Jan, the red
that who have relation with communists, is the accused one. Bigger
using on white prejudice against black and communists.
15. “Though the Negro killer’s body does not seem compactly built,
he gives the impression of possessing abnormal physical strength.
He is about five feet, nine inches tall and his skin is exceedingly
black. His lower jaw protrudes obnoxiously, reminding one of a
jungle beast. His arms are long, hanging in a dangling fashion to his
knees. It is easy to imagine how this man, in the grip of a brain-
numbing sex passion, overpowered little Mary Dalton, raped her,
murdered her, beheaded her, then stuffed her body into a roaring
furnace to destroy the evidence of his crime. “ (p. 213)
From the newspapers citations that Bigger read indicates the
media is totally crass in delivering the news, they depict coloured
people as vile, ugly, stupid, and immoral. Othering derived from the
print media is very dangerous because through persuasive words
they can influence many readers.
16. We of the South believe that the North encourages Negroes to get more
education than they are organically capable of absorbing, with the result
that northern Negroes are generally more unhappy and restless than those
of the South. (p. 214)
White people assume that black people are not able to receive a
proper education because they are stupid. Thus the coloured people in
the north are considered to have aggressive or malicious code.
“Mr. Coroner,” Max said. “This is outrageous! Your indecent exhibition of
that girl’s dead body serves no purpose but that of an incitement to mob
violence.….” (p. 249)
The white man does not respect the privacy of black people by
showing Bessie’s corpses in order to provide indirect evidence about the
allegations of rape.
17. “What in hell you Reds can get out of bothering with a black thing like
that, God only knows,”(p. 222)
the citation indicates that the white man does not regard black
people as human beings, but think of them as an object of abomination.
Max, you know what some white men say we black men do? They say we
rape white women when we got the clap and they say we do that because
we believe that if we rape white women then we’ll get rid of the clap.
That’s what some white men say. They believe that. (p. 265)
In some previous opinion that necessarily do not have any strong
foundation, white people stating that the coloured man has interest in
white women. therefore they assume bigger was trying to rape Mary.
18. Conclusion
“Native Son” written by Richard Wright contains othering as the
result of discrimination. Othering is not only experienced by coloured
people, as the oppressed, but also white people. The main cause of gap
between two races are the social and economic structure.
19. References
Brons, Lajos. 2015. Othering, An Analysis. Retrieved
from http://www2.hu-
berlin.de/transcience/Vol6_No1_2015_69_90.pdf
Augoustinos, Martha, and Katherine J Reynolds. 2001. Understanding
Prejudice, Racism, And Social Conflict. London: SAGE.
Wright, Richard, and John Reilly. 1966. Native Son. New York: Harper &
Row.
