Native Son

Native Son THE NOVEL THE PLOT It's a typical morning in the one-room apartment where Bigger Thomas lives with his mother, younger brother, and sister in the central black section of Chicago. A foot-long rat has been terrifying the family, and Bigger traps and kills it. When he's done, his mother reminds him that he has a job interview that evening. She begs him to take the job. If he doesn't, the family will be …

…the circumstances of Bigger's oppressed life justify a sentence of life imprisonment instead of death. As a mob outside demands Bigger's execution, the judge sentences him to the electric chair. Knowing that he will die, Bigger's last desperate wish is to communicate his feelings to Max. He tells a shocked Max that his murders were meaningful acts that came from deep within. The two men say good-bye, and Bigger is left to face death alone.