The Unconscious Desire and Its Conscious Reflection in Richard Wright’s Native Son

Abstract

This paper examines Richard Wright’s “Native Son" from Jungian collective unconscious aiming the protagonist Bigger Thomas. Conducting qualitative content analysis method, it concentrates how a native Negro boy Bigger becomes entangled with the thought of identity crisis, color and faulty social circumstance facing indomitable fear and frustration. In fact, this paper targets not to prove that Bigger was innocent but to show what inherent factors engulfed his restless mind. It also analyzes the outer world of Bigger which goes under Whites’ control collapsing and repressing all his bright childhood days, simple dreams and usual desires to be contended as a native son. Consequently, these repressed collective unconscious desires took unanimous days to be exposed sooner or later. Finally, it shows how Bigger exposes his desires consciously through the accidental murder of Mary Dalton and aftermath dreadful inhuman activities.