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…

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• Native Son Summary
• About Native Son
• Character List
• Major Themes
• Summary and Analysis of Book One
• Summary and Analysis of Book Two
• Summary and Analysis of Book Three
• Related Links on Native Son
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 1
• Test Yourself! - Quiz 2
• Author of ClassicNote and Sources

• Native Son: Major Themes
• Native Son: Essays
• Native Son: Questions
• Native Son: Purchase the Novel and Related Material
• Richard Wright: Biography