The Effect of Blindness in Native Son Angela Dang 10th Grade

Blindness is prevalent all throughout human society and more specifically, all throughout human nature. To be blind can mean a myriad of things. Literally and physically, it means to lack proper vision. When taking that definition to a figurative level, it means to fail to see through the perspectives of other people, or it can also mean to overanalyze and fail to see the true form of a situation. Depending on the scenario, the effects of blindness can either be positive or negative, although it is usually the latter. In Richard Wright’s novel Native Son, the theme of blindness recurs a multitude of times, and all definitions of blindness apply at least once within the book. The vast effects of the varying multitudes of blindness are prominent within the mindsets of the characters of Native Son, and ultimately, it teaches a lesson about society as a whole.

Blindness appears repeatedly throughout the book within a variety of characters. The first conspicuous conveyance of blindness is found in Mrs. Dalton. Mrs. Dalton is physically blind and, due to the fact that she is not capable of seeing, she is also figuratively blind as well. In this case, Wright portrays this particular kind of blindness to be a positive attribute. Since...