Notes on Books or Something

       Obviously identity is a large part of the novel and the Narrator has an identity crisis throughout the entirety of it so far. In the beginning of the novel the Narrator is focused only on getting into college to become and educated man and change the world for the better, and believes that as long as he does not cause any trouble these opportunities will be available to him.       His identity first comes into question when he meets the veteran in the tavern. He speaks to him and learns that he used be be educated and a doctor with very impressive skills, and yet he is in a mental hospital with all the other people at rock bottom. This is very confusing for the Narrator and he tries to make excuses as to why such a skilled man wouldn't be somewhere else practicing his profession. The Narrator then completely flips when it is revealed that Bledsoe sent him on a wild goose chase to get rid of him, going from "oh if I follow orders everything ...

      In the Novel, Native Son by Richard Wright, the main character Bigger is very single minded and is focused on him and his family's social circumstances. He sees the lack of power and status that he has and takes out his frustration about it on the people around him. In beginning of the book he deals with the rat in a very cruel manner, crushing its head and swearing. In this scene we see the first signs of Bigger losing control and channeling the anger about his living conditions, his father, and his social status, on this rat, one of the few things he has power over, and afterwards we see him parade the carcass around.       This interaction between Bigger and the Rat is representative of the entire book. The rat (we'll call him Smaller) is unfairly prejudiced against for something that there is no evidence against them for, much like how Bigger is accused of raping Mary without evidence. Even though the rat would do or had done something...