Analysis of Theme Through Inner and Social Conflicts in Richard Wright's 'Native Son'.
ABSTRACT
Dalam tesis ini, penulis akan menganalisa konflik-konflik pribadi dan
sosial dalam novel Native Son dan kaitannya dengan tema, “memilih untuk berada
dalam posisi aman dapat menyebabkan seseorang menghadapi masalah.”
Cara Bigger, sang protagonis, dalam menyelesaikan konflik pribadi
maupun sosial yang dialaminya menunjukkan bahwa ia selalu mencoba untuk
berada dalam posisi yang aman. Hal ini dapat dibuktikan dari konflik pribadinya
untuk merampok toko orang kulit putih atau tidak, menuruti permintaan Mary
atau tidak, apakah ia harus bergerak atau diam saja ketika Nyonya Dalton
memasuki kamar Mary, apakah ia harus melarikan diri setelah membunuh Mary
atau tidak, dan apakah ia harus meninggalkan Bessie atau tidak. Semua konflik ini
ia atasi dengan keputusan yang paling aman untuk dirinya.
Terbukti juga dari konflik sosial antara Bigger dan Gus dan juga antara
Bigger dan Jan yang menunjukkan cara Bigger mengatasi konfliknya dengan
selalu membela diri dan mencoba untuk selalu berada dalam posisi yang aman.
Dari semua konflik di atas, dapat dibuktikan bahwa Bigger mendapat masalah
yang disebabkan oleh dirinya yang ingin selalu berada dalam posisi aman. Pada
akhirnya, Bigger tertangkap dan dihukum mati.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. ii
CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study .................................................................................
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................
Methods of Research ........................................................................................
Organization of the Thesis................................................................................
1
2
2
2
2
CHAPTER TWO : ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH INNER
AND SOCIAL CONFLICTS IN RICHARD WRIGHT’S
NATIVE SON .............................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER THREE : CONCLUSION ...................................................................15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................19
APPENDICES :
Synopsis of Native Son .................................................................................20
Biography of Richard Wright........................................................................22
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APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF NATIVE SON
The novel is about a poor boy, Bigger Thomas, who lives in a one-room
house with his family. His mother always pushes him to work, but Bigger prefers
to join a gang and often robs people and stores to get some quick money. Having
a conflict with his gang, Bigger agrees to work for the Daltons as a chauffer.
Bigger’s main duty is to drive the Dalton’s daughter, Mary Dalton, to her
class. However, Mary orders him to take her to meet her boyfriend, Jan. Bigger is
not allowed to tell this to anyone. On the way home, Mary is very drunk, so that
Bigger has to carry her to her bedroom. Being very drunk, Mary does not stop
mumbling. Bigger is afraid that someone will hear her. Bigger is afraid that if
anyone finds out, he will lose his job. Suddenly, Mary’s blind mother comes into
the room to check her. Fear of being discovered there, Bigger holds a pillow onto
Mary’s mouth to silence her. Unfortunately, Mary dies because of Bigger’s action.
Not wanting Mary’s body to be found, Bigger burns her body in a furnace
at the Dalton house. He also sends a randsom note which states about Mary’s
kidnapping and signs it with Jan’s signature in order to make the police guess that
Jan is involved in Mary’s lost.
20
Bigger tells everything to his girlfriend, Bessie. Nevertheless, Bigger fears
that Bessie will betray him, so he murders her. Bigger finally gets caught and is
executed on an electric chair.
21
BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD WRIGHT
Richard Wright was born in 1908 on a plantation near Natchez,
Mississippi. His father was a black sharecropper and his mother was a teacher.
Wright entered school in 1918, but was forced to leave the school because of his
family’s condition. In 1931, Wright published a short story, “Superstition”, in
Abbot’s Monthly Magazine; however, this magazine was bankrupt before he
received some money from the short story.
Since the age of twelve, Wright had started writing. He was attracted to
some influential American writers, such as Henry Louis Mencken, Theodore
Dreiser, and Harry Sinclair Lewis. In 1937, he went to New York City, where he
became a Harlem editor of the Communist paper, “Daily Worker”. He helped to
launch the magazine New Challenge, and published “The Ethics of Living Jim
Crow”. A second novel, Tarbaby’s Dawn, was never published, but Fire and
Cloud won first prize in a Story Magazine contest in 1938.
In 1938, Wright’s first book, Uncle Tom’s Children, was published. This
story led him to write Native Son in 1940. With this book, Wright gained national
attention, especially after it won the $500 prize awarded by Story magazine. In
1939, he married Dhimah Rose Meadman, a white dancer, but finally they were
separated. Then he married Ellen Poplar, who was a member of the communist
party. They had two daughters. Richard Wright died on 28 November 1960 at the
age of 52.
Source: Gaster
22
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
One element of literary works which is interesting to analyse is conflict. It
is important because there will be no story if a literary work does not have
conflicts. As Harry Shaw states in his article, “Conflict is the opposition of
persons or forces upon which the action depends.” (Shaw). There are three types
of conflicts: inner, social, and physical conflict. According to Shaw, “Inner
conflict is a struggle between desires within a person. Social conflict is a struggle
between man and man, and physical conflict is a struggle between man and the
physical world” (Shaw). In this thesis, I only discuss the first two types of
conflicts which help me to reveal the theme of Richard Wright's Native Son
Richard Wright is the first African-American writer to achieve literary
fame in the 20th century because of his Native Son, as Robert Butler said,” It is a
masterwork because its formal artistry and its revolutionary new content are
solidly integrated to produce a complex and resonant vision of modern American
reality.” Through Native Son, Wright shows conflicts which are experienced by
his character, Bigger, “who is dominated by two forces: one is fear and the other is
flight, the impulse to avoid problems” (Averbach).
1
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The inner and social conflicts which the protagonist of the novel
experiences lead me to find the theme of the story. Theme itself is “the central and
unifying concept of the story” (Perrine 102). Thus, in this thesis I try to reveal the
theme of Native Son.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The statements of the problems are:
1.
What is the theme of the novel?
2.
How do the inner and social conflicts reveal the theme of the novel?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Based on statements problem above, the purposes of the study are:
1.
To show the theme of the novel.
2.
To show the inner and social conflicts reveal the theme of the novel.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of this research is library research. I start by reading the novel,
then I find some references and information from the internet. Finally, I draw a
conclusion from the analysis that I have done.
ORGANIZATON OF THESIS
This thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
Chapter Two is the analysis of Native Son, followed by Chapter Three, which is
2
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the Conclusion. I state the sources and references in the Bibliography. This thesis
ends with the Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of Native Son and the
Biography of Richard Wright.
3
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I would like to conclude the analysis of all the conflicts in
the previous chapter. The conflicts I analyze are inner and social conflicts and I
also analyze the relations of conflicts with the theme which is “choosing to play
safe may lead one to having problems.”
The first inner conflict happens when Bigger is confused whether to rob
Blum’s store, that belongs to a white man, or not. Bigger is scared to rob the white
man but he cannot refuse it because all his gang have agreed to do so. As a
resolution, Bigger decides not to rob the shop by accusing Gus, his friend, that he
is the one who is scared of robbing whites. This leads Bigger to a social conflict
with Gus.
The next inner conflict is when Bigger is confused whether to follow
Mary’s order or not. Bigger knows he should not follow Mary’s order because
Mr. Dalton orders him to drive Mary to her class, but Bigger also cannot refuse
Mary’s order because he thinks that Mary is his friend. As a resolution, Bigger
decides to follow Mary’s order. It is the easiest and safest way. However, his
15
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playing safe to follow Mary’s order leads him to another worse problem that
Mary gets drunk and Bigger is almost caught in her bedroom.
The third inner conflict happens when Bigger is confused whether to stay
or not in Mary’s bedroom and when gets drunk. If he moves away, he is afraid to
be caught. However, if he stays quietly in the room, there is also a possibility to
be caught. Bigger overcomes his conflict by staying quietly in the room and
holding his hands with a pillow over Mary’s mouth which causes her to die. He
thinks it is the safest thing he can do to protect himself. Nevertheless, his playing
safe action once again leads him to worst problem, which is Mary’s death.
Bigger experiences another inner conflict when he is confused whether to
run away or not after killing Mary. Bigger has a risk to be caught, whether he runs
away or not. Therefore, Bigger decides not to run away and takes two safest
actions for him, he accuses Jan and burns Mary’s body. His playing safe leads him
to a social conflict between him and Jan and also leads the police to find the
evidence that Mary is dead.
The last inner conflict happens when Bigger is confused whether to leave
Bessie, his girlfriend, or not. Bigger has a risk that Bessie will betray him but to
bring her along will just become a burden for him. As a result, Bigger decides to
leave her, but to avoid her betraying him, he kills her. Bigger’s playing safe leads
him to a problem that the police get clues from Bessie’s death.
The first social conflict is between Bigger and Gus. The conflict is about
committing robbery to a white man’s store. Bigger accuses that Gus is scared to
do the robbery. However, Gus rejects the accusation and says he is not afraid to do
the robbery. This social conflict is not resolved because both Bigger and Gus
16
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defend themselves. To hide Bigger’s fear, he accuses Gus and throws a false
accusation towards him. This is a playing-safe action. Instead of solving his
conflict, Bigger’s playing-safe leads him to a problem with his gang forever.
The second social conflict is between Bigger and Jan. The conflict is about
Mary’s death. Bigger accuses that Jan is the last person who is with Mary, so he
must be the one who kills Mary. However, Jan rejects that he is not involved in
Mary’s death at all. The conflict is not resolved because both insist on what they
say. Bigger plays safe by accusing Jan and also using violence by threatening Jan
with a gun. Bigger knows he has made false accusation towards Jan so he feels
guilty. Instead of solving his conflict, Bigger’s playing safe leads him to problems
within himself that is he feels guilty by accusing Jan.
From all the conflicts above, it is proved that Bigger’s choosing to always
be safe makes him get more complicated results and problems. He always avoids
the risks he has and takes the safest risk. This is a playing-safe action. Instead of
solving his conflict, Bigger’s playing-safe leads him to problems.
Having analyzed all the conflicts above, I find that the theme, ”choosing to
play safe may lead one to having problems” is true in the reality of life. Playing
safe does not always make one to be safe but it may lead one to having a problem.
In my opinion, Wright’s Native Son is a good example from the characteristic of
Bigger, who always tries to play safe. Bigger gives us a lesson that playing safe is
not always good.
I also find that Native Son is an interesting novel because the story shows
a realistic example of people in facing problems in life. I notice that most people
in this world do the same as Bigger and they are also led to a problem. The
17
Maranatha Christian University
character Bigger reminds people to be responsible of what they have done and not
to run away from problems.
18
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text
Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York : Harper & Row, 1966.
Reference
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. USA : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inv,
1974.
Internet Sources :
Averbach, Margara. “Novels for Students”. Answers.Com. 2006.8 Mar. 2010.
Gaster, Snally. “Richard Wright Biography”.Math.Bufallo.Edu.26 Apr. 2010.
Shaw, Harry. “Literary Terms and Definitions”. Literary Vocabulary.1998.
12 Feb. 2010.
19
Maranatha Christian University
Dalam tesis ini, penulis akan menganalisa konflik-konflik pribadi dan
sosial dalam novel Native Son dan kaitannya dengan tema, “memilih untuk berada
dalam posisi aman dapat menyebabkan seseorang menghadapi masalah.”
Cara Bigger, sang protagonis, dalam menyelesaikan konflik pribadi
maupun sosial yang dialaminya menunjukkan bahwa ia selalu mencoba untuk
berada dalam posisi yang aman. Hal ini dapat dibuktikan dari konflik pribadinya
untuk merampok toko orang kulit putih atau tidak, menuruti permintaan Mary
atau tidak, apakah ia harus bergerak atau diam saja ketika Nyonya Dalton
memasuki kamar Mary, apakah ia harus melarikan diri setelah membunuh Mary
atau tidak, dan apakah ia harus meninggalkan Bessie atau tidak. Semua konflik ini
ia atasi dengan keputusan yang paling aman untuk dirinya.
Terbukti juga dari konflik sosial antara Bigger dan Gus dan juga antara
Bigger dan Jan yang menunjukkan cara Bigger mengatasi konfliknya dengan
selalu membela diri dan mencoba untuk selalu berada dalam posisi yang aman.
Dari semua konflik di atas, dapat dibuktikan bahwa Bigger mendapat masalah
yang disebabkan oleh dirinya yang ingin selalu berada dalam posisi aman. Pada
akhirnya, Bigger tertangkap dan dihukum mati.
Maranatha Christian University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. ii
CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study .................................................................................
Statement of the Problem .................................................................................
Purpose of the Study ......................................................................................
Methods of Research ........................................................................................
Organization of the Thesis................................................................................
1
2
2
2
2
CHAPTER TWO : ANALYSIS OF THEME THROUGH INNER
AND SOCIAL CONFLICTS IN RICHARD WRIGHT’S
NATIVE SON .............................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER THREE : CONCLUSION ...................................................................15
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................19
APPENDICES :
Synopsis of Native Son .................................................................................20
Biography of Richard Wright........................................................................22
Maranatha Christian University
APPENDICES
SYNOPSIS OF NATIVE SON
The novel is about a poor boy, Bigger Thomas, who lives in a one-room
house with his family. His mother always pushes him to work, but Bigger prefers
to join a gang and often robs people and stores to get some quick money. Having
a conflict with his gang, Bigger agrees to work for the Daltons as a chauffer.
Bigger’s main duty is to drive the Dalton’s daughter, Mary Dalton, to her
class. However, Mary orders him to take her to meet her boyfriend, Jan. Bigger is
not allowed to tell this to anyone. On the way home, Mary is very drunk, so that
Bigger has to carry her to her bedroom. Being very drunk, Mary does not stop
mumbling. Bigger is afraid that someone will hear her. Bigger is afraid that if
anyone finds out, he will lose his job. Suddenly, Mary’s blind mother comes into
the room to check her. Fear of being discovered there, Bigger holds a pillow onto
Mary’s mouth to silence her. Unfortunately, Mary dies because of Bigger’s action.
Not wanting Mary’s body to be found, Bigger burns her body in a furnace
at the Dalton house. He also sends a randsom note which states about Mary’s
kidnapping and signs it with Jan’s signature in order to make the police guess that
Jan is involved in Mary’s lost.
20
Bigger tells everything to his girlfriend, Bessie. Nevertheless, Bigger fears
that Bessie will betray him, so he murders her. Bigger finally gets caught and is
executed on an electric chair.
21
BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD WRIGHT
Richard Wright was born in 1908 on a plantation near Natchez,
Mississippi. His father was a black sharecropper and his mother was a teacher.
Wright entered school in 1918, but was forced to leave the school because of his
family’s condition. In 1931, Wright published a short story, “Superstition”, in
Abbot’s Monthly Magazine; however, this magazine was bankrupt before he
received some money from the short story.
Since the age of twelve, Wright had started writing. He was attracted to
some influential American writers, such as Henry Louis Mencken, Theodore
Dreiser, and Harry Sinclair Lewis. In 1937, he went to New York City, where he
became a Harlem editor of the Communist paper, “Daily Worker”. He helped to
launch the magazine New Challenge, and published “The Ethics of Living Jim
Crow”. A second novel, Tarbaby’s Dawn, was never published, but Fire and
Cloud won first prize in a Story Magazine contest in 1938.
In 1938, Wright’s first book, Uncle Tom’s Children, was published. This
story led him to write Native Son in 1940. With this book, Wright gained national
attention, especially after it won the $500 prize awarded by Story magazine. In
1939, he married Dhimah Rose Meadman, a white dancer, but finally they were
separated. Then he married Ellen Poplar, who was a member of the communist
party. They had two daughters. Richard Wright died on 28 November 1960 at the
age of 52.
Source: Gaster
22
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
One element of literary works which is interesting to analyse is conflict. It
is important because there will be no story if a literary work does not have
conflicts. As Harry Shaw states in his article, “Conflict is the opposition of
persons or forces upon which the action depends.” (Shaw). There are three types
of conflicts: inner, social, and physical conflict. According to Shaw, “Inner
conflict is a struggle between desires within a person. Social conflict is a struggle
between man and man, and physical conflict is a struggle between man and the
physical world” (Shaw). In this thesis, I only discuss the first two types of
conflicts which help me to reveal the theme of Richard Wright's Native Son
Richard Wright is the first African-American writer to achieve literary
fame in the 20th century because of his Native Son, as Robert Butler said,” It is a
masterwork because its formal artistry and its revolutionary new content are
solidly integrated to produce a complex and resonant vision of modern American
reality.” Through Native Son, Wright shows conflicts which are experienced by
his character, Bigger, “who is dominated by two forces: one is fear and the other is
flight, the impulse to avoid problems” (Averbach).
1
Maranatha Christian University
The inner and social conflicts which the protagonist of the novel
experiences lead me to find the theme of the story. Theme itself is “the central and
unifying concept of the story” (Perrine 102). Thus, in this thesis I try to reveal the
theme of Native Son.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The statements of the problems are:
1.
What is the theme of the novel?
2.
How do the inner and social conflicts reveal the theme of the novel?
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Based on statements problem above, the purposes of the study are:
1.
To show the theme of the novel.
2.
To show the inner and social conflicts reveal the theme of the novel.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
The method of this research is library research. I start by reading the novel,
then I find some references and information from the internet. Finally, I draw a
conclusion from the analysis that I have done.
ORGANIZATON OF THESIS
This thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter One is the Introduction,
which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the
Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.
Chapter Two is the analysis of Native Son, followed by Chapter Three, which is
2
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the Conclusion. I state the sources and references in the Bibliography. This thesis
ends with the Appendices, which consist of the Synopsis of Native Son and the
Biography of Richard Wright.
3
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CHAPTER THREE
CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I would like to conclude the analysis of all the conflicts in
the previous chapter. The conflicts I analyze are inner and social conflicts and I
also analyze the relations of conflicts with the theme which is “choosing to play
safe may lead one to having problems.”
The first inner conflict happens when Bigger is confused whether to rob
Blum’s store, that belongs to a white man, or not. Bigger is scared to rob the white
man but he cannot refuse it because all his gang have agreed to do so. As a
resolution, Bigger decides not to rob the shop by accusing Gus, his friend, that he
is the one who is scared of robbing whites. This leads Bigger to a social conflict
with Gus.
The next inner conflict is when Bigger is confused whether to follow
Mary’s order or not. Bigger knows he should not follow Mary’s order because
Mr. Dalton orders him to drive Mary to her class, but Bigger also cannot refuse
Mary’s order because he thinks that Mary is his friend. As a resolution, Bigger
decides to follow Mary’s order. It is the easiest and safest way. However, his
15
Maranatha Christian University
playing safe to follow Mary’s order leads him to another worse problem that
Mary gets drunk and Bigger is almost caught in her bedroom.
The third inner conflict happens when Bigger is confused whether to stay
or not in Mary’s bedroom and when gets drunk. If he moves away, he is afraid to
be caught. However, if he stays quietly in the room, there is also a possibility to
be caught. Bigger overcomes his conflict by staying quietly in the room and
holding his hands with a pillow over Mary’s mouth which causes her to die. He
thinks it is the safest thing he can do to protect himself. Nevertheless, his playing
safe action once again leads him to worst problem, which is Mary’s death.
Bigger experiences another inner conflict when he is confused whether to
run away or not after killing Mary. Bigger has a risk to be caught, whether he runs
away or not. Therefore, Bigger decides not to run away and takes two safest
actions for him, he accuses Jan and burns Mary’s body. His playing safe leads him
to a social conflict between him and Jan and also leads the police to find the
evidence that Mary is dead.
The last inner conflict happens when Bigger is confused whether to leave
Bessie, his girlfriend, or not. Bigger has a risk that Bessie will betray him but to
bring her along will just become a burden for him. As a result, Bigger decides to
leave her, but to avoid her betraying him, he kills her. Bigger’s playing safe leads
him to a problem that the police get clues from Bessie’s death.
The first social conflict is between Bigger and Gus. The conflict is about
committing robbery to a white man’s store. Bigger accuses that Gus is scared to
do the robbery. However, Gus rejects the accusation and says he is not afraid to do
the robbery. This social conflict is not resolved because both Bigger and Gus
16
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defend themselves. To hide Bigger’s fear, he accuses Gus and throws a false
accusation towards him. This is a playing-safe action. Instead of solving his
conflict, Bigger’s playing-safe leads him to a problem with his gang forever.
The second social conflict is between Bigger and Jan. The conflict is about
Mary’s death. Bigger accuses that Jan is the last person who is with Mary, so he
must be the one who kills Mary. However, Jan rejects that he is not involved in
Mary’s death at all. The conflict is not resolved because both insist on what they
say. Bigger plays safe by accusing Jan and also using violence by threatening Jan
with a gun. Bigger knows he has made false accusation towards Jan so he feels
guilty. Instead of solving his conflict, Bigger’s playing safe leads him to problems
within himself that is he feels guilty by accusing Jan.
From all the conflicts above, it is proved that Bigger’s choosing to always
be safe makes him get more complicated results and problems. He always avoids
the risks he has and takes the safest risk. This is a playing-safe action. Instead of
solving his conflict, Bigger’s playing-safe leads him to problems.
Having analyzed all the conflicts above, I find that the theme, ”choosing to
play safe may lead one to having problems” is true in the reality of life. Playing
safe does not always make one to be safe but it may lead one to having a problem.
In my opinion, Wright’s Native Son is a good example from the characteristic of
Bigger, who always tries to play safe. Bigger gives us a lesson that playing safe is
not always good.
I also find that Native Son is an interesting novel because the story shows
a realistic example of people in facing problems in life. I notice that most people
in this world do the same as Bigger and they are also led to a problem. The
17
Maranatha Christian University
character Bigger reminds people to be responsible of what they have done and not
to run away from problems.
18
Maranatha Christian University
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Text
Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York : Harper & Row, 1966.
Reference
Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. USA : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inv,
1974.
Internet Sources :
Averbach, Margara. “Novels for Students”. Answers.Com. 2006.8 Mar. 2010.
Gaster, Snally. “Richard Wright Biography”.Math.Bufallo.Edu.26 Apr. 2010.
Shaw, Harry. “Literary Terms and Definitions”. Literary Vocabulary.1998.
12 Feb. 2010.
19
Maranatha Christian University