In Their Novels, Many African American Writers Examine

In their novels, many African American writers examine the conditions African American men and women live in as well as the choices they make as a result of their environment. In Native Son by Richard Wright, Bigger lives in an impoverished community and survives by committing robbery along with his friends. When Bigger gets, a job working for a rich white family, he accidentally murders his employer’s daughter and tries to cover his tracks. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison tells the story of a black man who reflects upon his life and how he became Invisible Man. He is raised in the south and moves to Harlem after he is kicked out of college. In Harlem, he joins the Brotherhood and later learns the bleak existence which African American men†¦show more content†¦He tells his lawyer, Max, â€Å"I wanted to be an aviator once. But they wouldn’t let me go to the school and then drew a line around it and said that nobody could go to it but those who lived within the line. That kept the colored boys out† He does not see a future for himself. When he brings Mary, his rich employers daughter to her room, he smothers her with a pillow her for fear that he will be discovered in her room. He knows that he has killed her by accident but automatically he thinks â€Å"She was dead and he had killed her. He was a murderer. A Negro Murderer, a black murderer† (95). Bigger goes on to say, â€Å"though he had killed her by accident, not once did he feel the need to tell himself that it had been an accident. He was black and he had been alone in a room where a white girl had been killed, therefore he had killed her† Bigger understands the world that he lives in deeply and knows that everyone will assume that he killed her on purpose. That he raped her. He does not even tell himself the truth because his truth is not considered reality by society. His truth is not important. Bigger becomes a criminal as a way to survive. 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