Richard Wright’s “Native Son”: Author’s Biography; Background Study

The Author’s Background

Richard Wright was born in Natchez, Mississippi in 1908. He and his siblings were raised solely by his mother, Ella, as their father had abandoned them for another woman. They lived in abject poverty and kept moving from one part of the country to the other in search of food and shelter. At a time in his life, he lived in an orphanage. At fifteen, he left home and returned to Memphis. All along, he had to learn to negotiate the demeaning ‘rules’ and conventions of white-black relations in the South. In 1927, when he was nineteen, Richard moved north to Chicago in search of a better life. He soon discovered, however that life in the city was just as problematic as life in the South. Jobs were scarce. He had to struggle so hard to keep body and soul together. Meanwhile, he continued reading very voraciously and developing the habit of writing.

He published his first novel, Uncle Tom’s Children in 1935.  Native Son was his second novel. It was a huge success. It made Wright the wealthiest black writer of his time. He became the father of black American Literature and a spokesman for African-American issues all over the world.