Wright was affiliated with the Communist Party of the United States both prior to and following his publishing of "Native Son". The Communist ideas in "Native Son" are evident as Wright draws a parallel between the Scottsboro boys case and Bigger Thomas' case. One parallel is the court scene in "Native Son", in which Max calls the "hate and impatience" of "the mob congregated upon the streets beyond the window" (Wright, p. 386) and the "mob who surrounded the Scottsboro jail with rope and kerosene" after the Scottsboro boys' initial conviction. (Maxwell, page 132) Critics attacked Max's final speech in the courtroom, claiming that it was an irrelevant elaboration on Wright's own Communist beliefs and unrelated to Bigger's case.