STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What is Native Son's attitude toward religion?

2. What social institutions does Richard Wright criticize in Native Son?

3. Does Native Son endorse violence? Explain.

4. How convincing are the characters of Jan and Max?

5. Is Native Son a novel of social realism, or is it a dreamlike, symbolic tale? Back up your answer with evidence from the novel.

6. How does Wright use setting symbolically in Native Son?

7. Is Native Son dated? Is it still meaningful and relevant? Which parts do you find dated and which still relevant?

COMMENT ON THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

The study of literature is not like the study of math or science, or even history. While those disciplines are based largely upon fact, the study of literature is based upon interpretation and analysis. There are no clear-cut answers in literature, outside of the factual information about an authorÂ’s life and the basic information about setting and characterization in a piece of literature. The rest is a highly subjective reading of what an author has written; each person brings a different set of values and a different background to the reading. As a result, no two people see the piece of literature in exactly the same light, and few critics agree on everything about a book or an author.

In this set of Monkey Notes for a well-known piece of literature, we have tried to give an objective literary analysis based upon the information actually found in the novel, book, or play. In the end, however, it is an individual interpretation, but one that we feel can be readily supported by the information that is presented in the guide. In your course of literature study, you or your professor/teacher may come up with a different interpretation of the mood or the theme or the conflict. Your interpretation, if it can be logically supported with information contained within the piece of literature, is just as correct as ours. So is the interpretation of your teacher or professor.

Literature is simply not a black or white situation; instead, there are many gray areas that are open to varying analyses. Your task is to come up with your own analysis that you can logically defend. Hopefully, these Monkey Notes will help you to accomplish that goal.

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