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Native Son Questions

Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.

  1. Do you think social conditions and cultural climates are more important factors in determining our lives than the choices we make?
  2. What role do you think culture and society play in the choices we make? What role do you think race plays in the choices we make? What roles do culture, society, and race play in the choices Bigger makes?
  3. Think about the prejudice against Communism and the prejudice against black people in this story. In what ways are the two prejudices similar and in what ways are they different?
  4. Did the Communists in this story (as represented by Mary, Jan, and then Max) offer American society a solution to its problem of racial and class tension?