“Violence is a personal necessity for the oppressed...It is not a strategy consciously devised. It is the deep, instinctive expression of a human being denied individuality.”
James Baldwin once wrote, "No American Negro exists who does not have his private Bigger Thomas living in his skull." What did he mean by that? How is the idea of violence treated in the novel? What makes Native Son a great American novel?
This webinar features James Campbell, the former Times Literary Supplement NB columnist and author of Exiled in Paris: Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Samuel Beckett and Others on the Left Bank; Jim Hartley, Professor and Chair of Economics at Mount Holyoke College; and Damon Root, senior editor at Reason, where he writes about law, politics, and history. You can find links to the speakers' books by clicking here.
This discussion is moderated by David Randall, Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars.
