Are These Books More Similar Than We Think?

Are These Books More Similar Than We Think?

Native Son was written by Richard Wright in the 1940's. In this novel, Bigger Thomas is a young black man who has a rough life. His mom, brother and sister all live in this rundown one room apartment. Bigger gets a job at the Dalton’s as a chauffeur. Once he meets Mary Dalton, Mr. and Mrs. Dalton’s only daughter, he immediately hates her. Bigger’s first job was to drive Mary to class, but that didn’t exactly happen. Mary went out with her boyfriend Jan instead. When Bigger brought Mary home, she was drunk and he had to carry her up to her room. Bigger accidentally killed Marry by suffocating her with a pillow because he did not want Mrs. Dalton to know that he was Mary’s room. Bigger tried to cover up his tracks every second he got. After he got caught, Bigger told his attorney Max his whole story. Even though Bigger had asked for life and not death, he still got the electric chair. The book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings was written by Maya Angelou in the 1960's. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is Maya Angelou writing about her childhood. She had it rough as child. She was sent to Stamps, Arkansas to live with her grandmother. Maya’s life while in Stamps was just like all the other black kids, but when she was sent to go live back with her mom, that's when it changed. She was sexually molested by her mom’s boyfriend Mr. Freeman. After a while of living at her mother's, she went back to her grandmother's and stayed there for a good part of her life. Bailey, her brother, had seen someone lynched and that's when their grandmother sent them back to their mother’s so they would stay safe. While Maya was trying to find herself, she ended up getting pregnant at sixteen years old. Based on the themes in both books, Native Son better depicts the civil unrest.

There were some similarities presented in both books. The similarities were religion and love. Religion plays a big role in the both books. In Native Son, Mama is infatuated with God. She believes that God has the answers for everything and he can fix anything. Religion in this book also acts as an excuse for how badly the whites are treating the blacks. If they pray enough, God will make things better. "I’m praying for you, son. That’s all I can do now," she said. "The Lord knows I did all I could for you and your sister and brother… and if I left anything undone, it’s just ‘cause I didn’t know. … When I heard the news of what happened, I got on my knees and turned my eyes to God and asked Him if I had raised you wrong. … Listen, son, your poor old ma wants you to promise her one thing…. Honey, when ain’t nobody around you, when you alone, get on your knees and tell God everything. Ask Him to guide you. That’s all you can do now. Son, promise me you’ll go to Him (Wright 277).” This quote comes from when they were all in the cell and Mama was begging and begging Bigger to pray because she knew that God could help him and cure all of his problems if he just prayed. In the book I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, religion comes first. Everyone in Stamps is extremely religious. Mama, Uncle Willie, Maya, and Bailey would go to church and church functions all the time. When Maya was getting presents from her mother, one of her major thoughts was that God let her live to see the next day (Angelou 147). They would not miss one for anything. Mama was raising Maya and Bailey by the bible. Every time they disobeyed or they were a dishonor to God they would get a whipping. Almost every word that came out of Mama and her friends mouth was a quote from the bible. God was in their thoughts all the time. The other similarity was love was present in both of these books. Every character in I know Why The Caged Bird Sings loves someone. Maya loves her older brother Bailey with all of her heart. What ever Maya needs she goes to see Bailey, even for the slightest things. Yes, Bailey loves Maya too but, he became infatuated with this girl named Louise. “I think she was Bailey's first love outside the family. For him, she was the mother who let him get as close as he dreamed, the sister who wasn't moody and withdrawing, and teary and tender-hearted (Angelou 126). Louise was Bailey’s first real love and first lost. In Native Son, Mama shows so much love for all of her children, even though it is not always shown back. Bigger does not realize that his family cares about him so much. He thinks that he is all alone, but his family