During the 1940s the nation was facing grave danger induced by turmoil created by race relations. The post-slavery era was succeeded by even darker period, one marked by passivity and institutional racism made possible by the duplicity of patterns from the eras that preceded. All of these aspects were challenged in Richard Wright's novel "Native Son." The dissent for the inherent state of segregation became apparent through the conflicts that his characters encountered. The clearest example would be the character Max who defined the norms of a non-black individual by attempting to explain the brutality and aggression of African Americans as a result of the sociological structures introduced to them by everyone else. Ultimately, his conflict is between one of nihilism(i.e. giving in because the fight is a losing one as perceived by the white population) and pragmatism ( the attempt to create reform despite attempts of...