A Study Of Characters In Native Son From The Perspective Of Jungian Collective Unconscious Theory

Richard Wright is the most important African-American writer in the late 1930 s and the 1940 s.The famous novel Native Son is his masterpiece.It occupies an important position in American literature,subverts the inherent cognition that the black are timid and slavish,successfully depicts the character,Bigger Thomas,breaks a path for American protest novel,and deeply exposes the racial discrimination existing in American society.It is regarded as the milestone of the black literature.Wright thus is called “The Father of modern African-American novels”.This thesis mainly analyzes the characters of the novel from the perspective of Jungian collective unconscious theory: the Persona,the Shadow and the Self.The first chapter mainly analyzes the persona of the characters.The characters in the novel have no pure joy or sorrow.In their personalities,the persona plays an important role.Analyzing the persona of the characters contributes to understanding the characters’ behaviors better.The second chapter mainly analyzes the shadow of the characters.Every character has the certain shadow which is exposed or concealed.Analyzing the shadow of the characters contributes to exploring the characters’ psychology better.The third chapter mainly analyzes the self of the characters.Some of the characters in the novel finally balance the persona and the shadow,thus the Self of the characters appears,so their personalities can develop healthily;some characters fail to balance,so their personalities cannot grow and develop.The characters’ personalities are different for the influence of the persona and the shadow.In the end,Bigger balances the persona and the shadow by his introspection,thus the self appears and functions,so his personality grows.Mrs.Thomas,Bessie and Mrs.Dalton are unable to balance the persona and the shadow,thus the self cannot appear and work,so their personalities cannot grow.From analyzing this novel,readers can understand the characters more deeply,not only from the surface,but also from the psychology,thus resonate with the characters.By understanding the characters of the novel,readers can also examine themselves at the same time,which can not only digest this novel,but also help themselves gain the spiritual growth.