Native Son - Richard Wright

I was somewhat surprised by this book after reading Black Boy. What I loved about Black Boy was the consistent theme that we are truly masters of our fate despite the circumstances that we come up against. In a world where either fighting the system or toadying to it seemed like the two only options, Wright discovered that through hard work and critical thinking there were often other options. What Native Son seems to suggest is that the system has created the person Bigger has become, in fact not only was he driven to his actions, but really they were the only options really available to him. He lives a seemingly virtueless life of aggressive hostility, where he fight oppression with more aggression. He seems remorseless for his actions which are brutal and inhumane and while he sits in prison eating his steaks and reading the paper he isn't sure whether or not he's even truly guilty. I found myself at the end of the book feeling unsympathetic to Bigger, unsympathetic to the idea that society was responsible for his creation and somewhat disappointed in general.