An Analysis Of Native Son From The Perspective Of Paul Freire’s Cultural Action Theory

Richard Wright is one of the most prominent writers of African-American literature in the 1940 s and 1950 s.He is the pioneer in Harlem Renaissance and is praised as the father of Afro-American literature.In his works,he depicts the predicaments of African Americans and vehemently condemns the racial oppression,discrimination and segregation.Among his works,the masterpiece Native Son portrays a new rebellious character Thomas Bigger,which is different from the traditional weak and cowardly black slaves.Bigger is brave enough to challenge the unfairness in the society,and even makes unplanned revolt.From weakness to self-awareness,Bigger struggles against the injustice in the society on his own.Although the rebellion failed finally,Bigger has gained his own independent consciousness and recognized his enemies and friends.At the end of the novel,Bigger finds the oppression and the real condition of his nation from a macro perspective,which indicates that the consciousness of the oppressed has been awakened.Wright puts his complaints about the social system into a crime story and this writing technique has profound implications.This novel has been praised as “the social novel and social criticism with eternal value” and “the milestone of black literature”.In the previous researches on this novel,most scholars have made their analyses in the light of naturalism,psychoanalysis,post-colonialism,Marxism,existentialism,sociology and theology.For the oppressed,they can obtain the physical liberation in a violent way,which is easier than obtaining the educational thinking liberation.While the educational thinking liberation is the key to the real liberation for African Americans.However,few scholars has analyzed the real reason for the tragedy or figured out the solution from the perspective of pedagogy.Paul Freire,who is the representative of the oppressed pedagogy,puts forward the view of “Education is Liberation” and the dialogical action theory in his masterpiece The Pedagogy of the Oppressed.Based on the concept of “Education is Liberation” and the dialogical action theory,this thesis makes deep analyses of classic dialogues in Native Son by comparing the “dialogue” with the “anti-dialogue”,and extends the essence,dilemmas and methods of the dialogue.Moreover,this thesis tries to figure out the real outlet to liberation for the oppressed.This thesis consists of five parts.The first part is the introduction which includes a brief account of Richard Wright and his works,the account of the novel Native Son,literature review about Native Son both at home and abroad,the basic theoretical framework of Paulo Freire’s theories and the research significance of this thesis.Chapter One focuses on the contradiction between oppressors and the oppressed in Native Son from four parts: conquest,divide and rule,manipulation as well as cultural invasion in terms of the anti-dialogical action theory with related dialogues in this novel as examples.Through the invasion in all aspects repressed by the ruling class,this chapter reveals the dialogical oppression and the discrimination from the society.Chapter Two tries to analyze the relationship between the revolutionist and the oppressed in this novel from four parts: cooperation,unity for liberation,organization and cultural synthesis based on dialogical action theory.The dialogue between revolutionists and Bigger highlights the attitude of revolutionaries towards the oppressed,which has been a strong contrast with the ruling class.This chapter analyzes the enthusiasm as revolutionists in the process of searching partners and the integrity when they deal with problems.In addition,this part explodes a more peaceful way to get along with the oppressed and an effective method to liberate themselves.Chapter Three mainly analyzes the essence,dilemmas and necessary conditions of the dialogue,and proposes the feasible method for the liberation struggle.While analyzing the dilemma,the author pays more attention to difficulties which may appear in the process of revolution and points out that the largest obstacle is the oppressed themselves.Firstly,in order to achieve the true emancipation,the oppressed participate into revolutionaries.However,because of their excessive reliance on oppressors,the oppressed are eager to become new oppressors to gain more benefits.Secondly,the excessive dependence on oppressors leads a fear of the freedom as well.A serious lack of self-awareness and the fear of responsibility are typical characteristics of the oppressed,which makes them lose the confidence in revolution.Thus,the oppressed and the revolutionaries should unite together and maintain the profound love for the world,humility,faith in humankind,hope and critical thinking.The Conclusion summarizes the main points of this thesis and reiterates that the liberation of pedagogy is the real liberation of the oppressed.Although the ending of Native Son is a failure,the self-reflection of Bigger at the end of this novel is the beginning of the successful revolution.Those people who are oppressed can obtain the liberation only if they understand the essence of the dialogue,dispel the predicament of dialogue and cultivate the ability of dialogue.