Native Son characters

Appears from the start

A twenty-year-old Black man living with his family in a cramped apartment on Chicago's South Side. Angry, frightened, and hemmed in by poverty and racism, he struggles to imagine a future beyond menial work or crime. He accepts a chauffeur's job with the wealthy Dalton family, entering a white household whose expectations he does not understand and whose power makes him intensely uneasy.

Appears from the start

Bigger's widowed mother, who supports and worries over her children in their overcrowded home. She presses Bigger to take the Dalton job because the family urgently needs the income and fears that his anger and aimlessness will destroy him.

Appears from the start

Bigger's younger sister, who shares the Thomas family's one-room apartment. She is embarrassed by the family's lack of privacy and is training for practical office work.

Appears from the start

Bigger's younger brother, still a schoolboy and inclined to admire him. Buddy is curious about Bigger's new work and the wealthy white family employing him.

Appears from the start

One of Bigger's friends in the South Side poolroom circle. Bigger tries to draw him into a plan to rob a white-owned shop, then turns violently on him when fear of carrying out the plan becomes unbearable.

Appears from the start

A member of Bigger's group of friends and a participant in their proposed robbery. He is more willing than Gus to follow Bigger's lead but remains part of the same frustrated, directionless circle.

Appears from the start

A friend of Bigger who spends time with him at Doc's poolroom and joins the discussion of a robbery. He helps represent the narrow set of choices the young men believe are open to them.

Appears from the start

The wealthy real-estate owner who employs Bigger as a chauffeur. He presents himself as a benefactor to Black Chicago through charitable donations, while profiting from segregated housing that confines families such as the Thomases to overpriced, inferior apartments.

Appears from the start

Henry Dalton's blind wife. Quiet and devout, she moves through the house by memory and touch. Her unexpected entrance into Mary's bedroom terrifies Bigger because he assumes that discovery by a white woman will place him in immediate danger.

Appears from the start

The Daltons' daughter, recently returned from college. Rebellious against her parents and sympathetic to radical politics, she tries to treat Bigger informally, but her well-meant disregard for the racial boundaries governing his life increases his fear and vulnerability.

Appears from the start

Mary Dalton's Communist boyfriend. He speaks earnestly about racial equality and wants Bigger to call him by his first name, yet initially treats Bigger partly as an example for his political beliefs rather than understanding his guarded response.

Appears from the start

The Dalton family's Irish housekeeper, who explains Bigger's duties and the household routine. She is practical and observant, and her knowledge of the house makes Bigger wary of attracting her suspicion.

Appears from the start

Bigger's girlfriend, who works as a domestic servant and drinks heavily. She recognizes the danger surrounding Bigger more clearly than he wants to admit and becomes trapped between her fear of him and his need for help.

First appears in chapter 2

The forceful state prosecutor who directs the case against Bigger. He uses the investigation and trial to advance a sensational account of Bigger as an innate menace and demands the death penalty.

First appears in chapter 3

A Jewish Communist lawyer who undertakes Bigger's defense after Jan offers help. He listens to Bigger without pretending the killings did not happen and argues that the court must consider the social forces that shaped his fear, isolation, and violence.