First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright’s powerful novel is an unsparing reflection of the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Happy Friday everyone! Finally, we crossed out another work week. We survived another work week. The past week has been rather damp here in the Philippines but despite the torrential rains, we had no recourse but to work as usual. Nevertheless, I am glad we were all able to make it through the week. Today, the sun started to shine which is a good sign. Hopefully, the weekend will not be as damp. Anyway, I hope everyone is ending the work week on a high note. I hope that you were all able to tick off all items on your to-do lists. I hope that we are all diving into the weekend with very little worries. It is time to ditch those corporate clothes and don more comfortable articles of clothing. I hope that the weekend will provide a reprieve for everyone. I hope the weekend will allow you to pursue your hobbies or things you are passionate about.

Before I could dive into the weekend, let me wrap up another blogging week with a First Impression Friday update. This bookish meme has become an integral part of my weekly book blogging routine. It allows me to figure out my impressions about the book I am currently reading. It also serves a dual purpose as it is a springboard for my book reviews. Reading-wise, September was meant to be an extension of my foray into recently published books; I commenced this journey in August. I started my September journey with Kristin Hannah’s The Women. However, I have run out of recently published books I wanted to read – most are in transit – hence my decision to incorporate books from my ongoing reading challenges. This led me to Richard Wright’s Native Son, a book that is part of my 2024 Top 24 Reading List.

Admittedly, I have barely any idea what the book was about. I also could not remember what prompted me to obtain a copy of the book. I guess this was driven by my insatiable curiosity. My interest in the book grew when I learned it is part of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. I am basically hitting two birds with one stone because Native Son is the 15th book from the list I read this year; it is my goal to read 20 books from the said list. This is also one of the reasons why it is part of my 2024 Top 24 Reading list, making it the 19th book from the list I read. While I had little iota about the book, I am grateful for the introduction. This provided me an insight into what the book was about and the concerns that it was addressing. However, this did not prepare me for how gory the opening sequence was.

Set in 1930s Chicago, the novel centers around Bigger Thomas, a poor, uneducated, twenty-year-old Black man. He and his family – his mother and two younger siblings, Vera and Buddy – were residing in a cramped apartment on the South Side of the city. He was gripped by a gnawing realization that his life was at the mercy of other people other than himself. Opportunities for him were limited and he was denied upward mobility because only low-paying jobs were available to him and those in the same station as him. He was bitter and angry about the conditions surrounding him but felt powerless to do anything about it. His mother, on the other hand, was coaxing him to take a job through the relief agency – a chauffeur for a white millionaire philanthropist named Henry Dalton. Along with this came a caveat from his mother to avoid the gang he was a part of.

While clearly not happy about taking a job from the relief agency, he was left in awe by the sheer opulence of Mr. Dalton’s mansion. The job was decent but was not the one he wanted. However, Bigger was left with no choice but to accept the job; he was recently kicked out of his gang. At the Dalton mansion, Bigger met Mr. Dalton’s blind wife, the Irish maid Peggy, and Dalton’s blond daughter, Mary. Bigger’s first task, as ordered by Mr. Dalton, was to drive Mary to her lecture at the university that same evening. Mary, however, had other plans. Rather than taking her to the lecture, Mary asked Bigger to take her to her friend, Jan Erlone, a member of the Communist party. What ensued was a discomfiting tour around the city. Bigger was unaccustomed to being sandwiched between two white individuals.

The night ended with Mary getting drunk. Bigger had to carry her to her room. It was at this juncture that everything went south. The next scenes were terrible and can be quite discomfiting. I was honestly unprepared for these scenes even though I read the introduction. Nevertheless, these graphic details can be seen as a shot at the shock effect. It did quite well in doing that. While I flinched, I pushed forward and I found myself in a rather familiar territory. Slowly but calculated steps, Wright was steering the readers toward social injustices that pervade modern American society. One can understand the steps that Bigger had to take to protect himself. He knew that whatever he will say will be dismissed. Sure enough, he was pressured into admitting to untrue things. In light of the case, segregation was referenced. The Black Belt was also discussed.

It did not take long to understand the direction that Wright was taking. I guess the introduction did help me in navigating the story and the message it carries. The relationship between the Whites and the Blacks has always been quite flimsy. Sure, there are men like Mr. Dalton who try to bridge the gap between the two ethnicities but the divide runs too deep. What I found interesting in the story was the inclusion of political discourses. Communism, in particular, was extensively referenced and discussed. I guess this is to contrast the materialistic consumption brought about by capitalism. Mr. Dalton was glaringly rich while Bigger and his family were stuck in the quagmires. The Black Belt was a further illustration of the stark dichotomy between the affluent Whites and the poor Blacks.

I can envision how the story is going to pan out; Bigger’s story is far too common not to get an instant conclusion. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to how White will play with the elements he introduced. I am looking forward to how the courtroom scene will look like. The response of the White community has also piqued my interest. How about you fellow reader? What book or books have you read over the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy whatever you are reading right now. Happy weekend!