Criticism of ‘Ideological State Apparatuses’ in Native Son

【ABSTRACT】：It was Wright’s 1940 novel， Native Son， that stirred up real controversy by shocking the sensibilities of both black and white America. As a member of the Communist Party， Wright depicted Bigger’s criminal act in Native Son， we can see the racism ideology， especially， from Mary’s death， disclosed that the ruling class cruelly persecuted the ruled with the ‘ideological state apparatuses’.

【Keywords】： Native Son， racism ideology， ‘ideological state apparatuses’

Richard Wright let Bigger Thomas appear in the American literature history as a totally new black image. In the novel， there was not the white racism image which was cruelly shaped to persecute the black. Before the Native Son’s publication， the black description was usually depicted into as a victim of white’s outrage by black writers. But Wright knew that the American racism society would also cause the black to be perpetrators. Wright named the novel ‘Native Son’， being intended to reveal American society’s responsibility for Bigger’s crime. What he was trying to say is that the black’s savage breast was because of American social system rather than indoctrination and non-nationality. As a native American man， Bigger’s character was the product of American social civilization， his action and ending were caused by American society and the law of discriminating the black. Native son indignantly denounced racism phenomenon and the apartheid， and expressed protest against the whole American society which discriminated and oppressed the black. But Wright’s ‘protest novel’ had the intense sense of mission， he could improve the black’s enlightenment through reflecting faithfully social situation and the black’s life so that shocked the white’s soul， urging social change to occur in American society. Social environment played the decisive role in the black’s life so as to prompt readers to think deeply about the reason of the black’s crimes.

Some critics were aware that when Wright was writing Native Son he was deeply influenced by the American communist party， he was a radical communist. However， a few scholars analyzed what the protagonist Bigger had done with the Marxism ideological theory. In my view， it was not enough for pointing out that Bigger was the victim of social environment. Though Bigger was the killer who slaughtered Mary Dalton and Bessie Mears， Bigger was a black hero who was brave in resistance according to that interpretation， while who was the true murder？ I believed it was the ruling class’s ideology that controlled what Bigger had done.

Introduction to ideological theory

The word ‘ideology’ was created by French rationalist philosopher Antonie Destutt de Tracy in 1797， which means the science of idea. Althusser inherited the tradition of Marx， the problem what he needed to solve was the deficiency of ideology in Marx’s writings. He put forward the theory of ideology and ideological state apparatuses in 1970， and he called the ideology as ideological state apparatuses showing that the ideological state apparatuses was different from the state apparatuses of Marxist theories， the former consisted of government， administrative organization， military， police， court， prison and so on. He called them “repressive state apparatuses”. He also believed that church， political party， labor union， family， media and cultural undertaking were the first ideological state apparatuses in which the bourgeoisie wanted to promote imperceptibly. Racism is a sort of negative form of ideology， and it is the object that Marxism criticizes and discloses.

Mary’s murder and racism ideology

Native Son is divided into three sections： Fear， Flight and Fate. It is full of various traumatic events， the protagonist Bigger is the victim of numerous traumatic events， as a result he becomes a murder and make much more traumatic resources. Mary’s murder is the central event in the novel， the foregoing story is groundwork， the following is its continuation. In short， violence and murder are the centerpiece in the story.

However， Mary’s murder gives Bigger a sense of power and identity he was never known. He thinks that “he has killed many times before”， “his crime is natural”， “all his life leaded to this crime”， and he feels killing Mary “gives him a lease on life”. （Wright 1957： 90） In other words， Bigger’s accidental killing of Mary Dalton does not fill him with guilt. Instead， he feels an odd jubilation because， for the first time， he has asserted his own individuality against the white forces that have conspired to destroy it. It is obvious that Racism ideology influences Bigger’s crime. To be more specific， when Bigger finds himself in Mary’s room， he knows he has breached the most explosive racial rule---the sexual separation between black men and white women. As Bigger puts Mary to bed， he becomes excited and aroused. This excitement comes not so much from the fact that Mary is physically attractive， but from his knowledge that she is forbidden to him. When Bigger feels Mrs. Dalton’s ghostly presence in the room， he is reminded of his transgression. Should Mrs. Dalton discover him， the horrible fate he has always expected for himself would surely be sealed forever. Bigger once again finds his skin color trapping him in a situation in which the only option proves to be fatal.

In conclusion， according to Bigger’s mental activity written by Wright， gradually， the root of Bigger’s crime is disclosed： through the disclosure towards the ruling class’ ideology， exploring the internal relation between crime act and American social system， pointing out that the reason why black people are barbaric and violent is neither the natural instincts， nor the national identity， but the social system. Therefore， Bigger’s character is the production of American civilization.

Works Cited

Antonie Gramsci. Selections from the Prison Notebook. London： Lawrence and Wishart， 1971.

Louis Althusser. “Philosophy and Marxism”. In Francois Matheron and Oliver Corpet （eds.）. Philosophy of the Encounter： Later Writings， 1978-87. London： Verso， 2006.

Wright， R. Native son. New York： HarperBrother. 1957.