Richard Wright Essay Example

Richard Wright Essay Example Richard Wright Essay Richard Wright Essay Literary Distinctions through Ineradicable Scars His racial status, his poverty, the disruption of his family, and his faulty education allowed Richard Wright to grow into a novelist astonishingly different than other major American writers. Richard Wright was born on a Rucker plantation in Adams County, Mississippi. He was born on September 4, 1908 to Ella Wilson, a schoolteacher and Nathaniel Wright, a sharecropper. When Wright was about six years old, his father abandoned Ella and his two sons in a penniless condition to run off with another woman. This left Wright’s mother the difficult task of supporting herself and her children on her own, but left Wright with a humiliating kind of loss (Duffus). Soon after his father left, Wright and his mother moved to Memphis, Tennessee. His mother was forced to work as a cook in order to support the family; and during this period, Wright temporarily stayed in an orphanage. Wright’s mother became ill while living in Memphis, so the family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, and lived with Ella’s mother. His grandmother was a Seventh Day Adventist so she enrolled him in a Seventh Day Adventist school at the age of twelve. Wright went to a local public high school for a few years, but did not receive a higher-level education (Duffus). In 1925, he moved back to Memphis, Tennessee. He worked at menial jobs such as, carrying lunches for railroad workers, carrying firewood and trays for small cafes, delivering clothes for a pressing shop, sweeping floors, selling newspapers, doing chores for white families, etc. (Kinnamon, 6) He moved to Chicago in 1927 after securing employment as a postal clerk, he read other writers and studied their styles during his time off. Later in 1937, Wright moved to New York, where he began ties with Communist Party members there after getting established. He worked on the WPA Writers’ Project, and wrote the book’s essay on Harlem. Wright became the Harlem editor of the Daily Worker. Wright is considered the most esteemed spokesman for the oppressed African American in the 1930s and 1940s. Some of his several works include Black Boy, Uncle Tom’s Children, The Outsiders, Eight Men, American Hunger, and Native Son. (Duffus). His first fiction, Native Son, chronicles the effects of racism and bigotry in the life of Bigger Thomas, a young black man raised in the ghettos of Chicago. The narrator in Native Son speaks in a limited third-person voice that focuses on Bigger’s thoughts and feelings. Through this limited third-person voice, the narrator brings the reader into Bigger’s mind and situation, helping the reader gain a better insight on Bigger’s complex self. When Wright wrote Native Son, he expressed his belief that society was responsible for creating tragic characters like Bigger Thomas. Quickly, Native Son became one of the most controversial books during the 1930s. Native Son was a turning point in the evolution of black protest fiction (Moorer, 87). Richard Wright uses Fear, Flight, and Fate to explain Bigger Thomas’s inner-development through the themes of oppression, blindness, dehumanization, the illusion of freedom, and redemption. Ultimately, Wright indicates that the inner liberation will only come from within the self. THE INTELLECTUAL ENVIRONMENT: RACIST THOUGHTS Adams County was one of the most racist areas, of the most racist state in the country. Wright was subjected to racial discrimination and racial prejudice during his entire life in the United States. This is interesting because America has always been thought to be the land of freedom, where you can find happiness. However, it lacked in giving equality to African Americans. Many people wonder why most of his novels focus on social reality. Keep in mind that during his upbringing, racism was alive really live. In the early 1900s, suppression of black people was a dominant goal of Mississippi politics (Kinnamon,17). Many African Americans struggled to discover how to survive without fear in a world dominated by white men. Richard Wright’s unstable upbringing made him the novelist we admire today. A long-term irony of Wright’s life is that in spite of his belief in environmental determinism, he fulfilled his dream of success against all odds. In his essay How Bigger Was Born, Wright explains how he grew up surrounded by different types of Biggers, and that social reality determined his literary personality. (Applebee) Indeed, he was at different times in his youth an unstable child, but ultimately he became Richard Wright, and not Bigger Thomas. Fear- oppression and blindness Book One (Fear) of Native Son begins with an alarm clock ringing. We see Bigger, Vera, Buddy, and Mrs. Thomas in a small apartment in Chicago. Since the apartment only has one room, Bigger and Buddy are forced to turn around to avoid seeing his little sister and his mother getting dressed. Perhaps, the ringing alarm signifies a wakeup call, not only for Bigger, but for the readers and America as a whole about race relations in this era. Immediately, we are exposed to the unfortunate circumstances Bigger’s family live in when a huge rat runs across the floor, and Bigger is destined to wrestle the rat. During his struggle with the rat, Bigger smashes the rat’s head with a skillet, and then smashes his face with a shoe. The rat portrays fear book one is speaking about. The rat and Bigger immediately attack each other, hinting that they resemble each other and they fear themselves. In Fear, we also meet Gus, Jack, and G. H. after Bigger stands alone reflecting on the words â€Å"If You Break The Law, You Cant Win! † posted on top of campaign posters. Bigger and his friends have a tentative plan to rob a deli owned by a white man named Mr. Blum. They want to rob a white deli, because it would give them a challenge. They have always robbed black stores, because police do not focus on black-on-black crime. Here, Wright begins to develop the theme of racial oppression. We also start looking into Bigger’s thoughts and the theme of racial oppression when he tells his friend Gus that he could fly a plane if he were given the chance, but only if he had some money and were not black. Bigger complains that whites will not let blacks do anything, and he feels as if he were in prison. Bigger gets a job with the Daltons. The Daltons are a rich white family that offers Bigger a job as a chauffeur, because they feel that blacks deserve a chance. Mrs. Dalton is the blind wife of Mr. Dalton, and the mother of Mary. The Daltons portray themselves as supporters of black Americans. However, we see the reality when we learn that Mr. Dalton simultaneously benefits from keeping blacks like Bigger and his family in terrible housing by charging them high rents. On his first day of work, Bigger is a little nervous and fearful because he still sees whites as a threatening, powerful force that denies him control of his own life. On his first night on the job, Bigger secretly takes Mary and her communist boyfriend Jan to a restaurant. At the restaurant, Mary and Jan try to become close with Bigger, but Bigger is intimidated at the beginning, because no white person has ever treated him that way. Mary and Jan try to make a genuine effort in understanding racial problems in America, so they want to break the social barrier between them and Bigger. At the end of the night, they are all drunk, and Mary can’t make it to her room, so Bigger carries her. When Bigger finds himself in Mary’s oom, he knows that he has overcome the sexual separation between blacks and whites, and begins to kiss her. Bigger then feels Mrs. Dalton’s presence in the room, and is reminded of the whiteness that controls his life, leading to the accidental death of Mary. Richard Wright does not spare any of the gruesome details in Bigger’s disposal of Mary’s body. Through his disposal, we see the extreme pai n and rage that Bigger feels which would allowing him to do such thing. In Book One, Wright introduces the Fear that Bigger has obtained through oppression. We see that Bigger fears entrapment caused by the white glooming force. He is afraid that he will not be able to progress and escape his shameful circumstances because racism in Chicago will keep him down, and there is no way out. Interestingly enough, we see in Book One that oppression is caused by blindness. Mrs. Dalton is literally blind, but also metaphorically. Mrs. Daltons blindness plays a crucial role in showing the readers the vicious circle of racism in American society. Mrs. Daltons inability to see Bigger causes him to turn to violence, similar to the inability of whites to see blacks as individuals causes blacks to live their lives in fear and hatred. Mrs. Daltons blindness represents the inability of white Americans as a whole to see blacks as anything other than what the media portrays. Since they don’t see blacks as anything else than what the media portrays them to be, white intentionally or unintentionally keep them down. In Book One Bigger starts to realizes that, in a sense, even he has been blind, unable to see whites as individuals rather than a single oppressive mass. Flight- Dehumanization and illusion of freedom The opening of Book Two (Flight), opens up a new phase of Bigger’s life. Mary’s death is the key turning point in the book and in Bigger’s character. In Book One, Bigger is unable to analyze and understand his feelings or behavior. In Flight, Bigger begins to search for his new identity. Flight is an interesting book because we see Bigger’s life threatened by his actions, but he sees his life in a different point of view. His goal is to get away with the murder. Since Bigger’s goal is to get away with murder, he disguises his identity as a poor, uninformed, submissive boy. We start to see that he is manipulating his search for identity to his advantage. The Dalton’s do not suspect that Bigger is the murderer, because they don’t believe that Bigger can’t function as anything else but a chauffeur. In Flight, Bigger uses stereotypes for protection against whites. Earlier, in Fear we portray the alarm clock as a warning about the effects of racial oppression. This is becoming more evident. Bigger does not feel afraid to commit robbery against whites, as we saw in Fear, so he plans to collect ransom from the Daltons. This is working perfect for him, because his role-playing is leading others to believe that Jan committed the murder. Bigger begins to manipulate the anticommunist prejudices. However, this doesn’t play for long, after Jan confronts Bigger and the authorities find that Bigger is murderer of Mary Dalton. At this point, America is furious. America has been bombarding the newspapers, and news with anti-Bigger comments. Bigger is now on the run, and meets with his girlfriend Bessie at an empty apartment to hide. His girlfriend is terrified and paralyzes by fear, so Bigger sees no other option but to get her out of the way. Through Bigger’s flight, we see that his only way, ironically, of feeling complete and in control is through murder. At this point, Bigger’s innocence has been destroyed by racism, thus dehumanizing him. Wright shows Bigger’s dehumanization through the imagery of Mary’s murder. Biggers disposal of Marys body is atrocious, and Wright purposely does not spare any of the details. Wright wants to highlight the severe pain and anger Bigger feels that allows him to become insensitive and inhumane. After Mary’s murder, Bigger feels a sense of clear purpose. Even though Mary’s death was an accident, Bigger tries to convince himself that it was an intentional action, because this murder represents the ultimate rebellion against the white force that has been oppressing him. Fear supports the theme of dehumanization. Bigger Thomas is a product of the oppression in white society that has been caused and maintained through blindness. Dehumanization has caused Bigger to commit inhumane acts, but ironically, gives him an illusion on freedom. Bigger feels that Mary’s death gives him a new life, and self-control. In his eyes, he has become more human, because his life holds a purpose. Bigger feels free and in control of his life. However, this doesn’t remain for long. Fate- redemption Racism has limited Bigger’s prospects in life. The morass of racial discrimination prevented Bigger from feeling comfortable around whites. Because the environment he grew up in portrays whites as sophisticated and blacks as either subservient or savage, Bigger Thomas resented and feared all whites. He felt that the white society is an uncontrollable natural force. The one room apartment in which Bigger, his mother, sister and brother lived in was a tiny, dank, decrepit hole infested with rats owned by Mr. Dalton who was also white. All of these conditions made Bigger incapable to see (Jan, Mary, Mr. Dalton etc. ) as individuals. Bigger Thomas hid behind a wall, not allowing anyone to know and understand his actual feelings towards life and the cycle of racism in Chicago during the 1930s. The hate society brought into Bigger is an unavoidable part of his character. He doubted his own mind after being forced to be bad and live in bad conditions. Bigger tries to hide these emotions to the point where he becomes blind of his own persona. After Mary’s death, he felt empowered and relieved as though he has taken control of his own life and struck against whites. More specifically, it gave him an opportunity to truly evaluate himself in prison and figure out who he was on the inside after he had lost himself. Because he wanted to make his life mean something that he could claim for himself, he did not regret Mary’s murder. In Book Three, Bigger says â€Å"But when I think of why all the killing was, I begin to feel what I wanted, what I am†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (429). He realizes that in order to win the battle of his life on the outside, he must win the one in the inside. From there, he emerges from behind this barrier and begins to examine the world for what it really is. His new mentality gives him power to achieve victory within himself. During his first few days in prison, Bigger does not eat, drink, or talk to anyone. Jan comes to see him, and tells Bigger that he has taught him a lot about black-white relationships and offers him the help of a communist lawyer, Max. Bigger he decides to speak with Max and tells him the story of his life. Max learns about the sufferings and feelings of black people and Bigger learns about himself. He starts understanding his relationships with his family and with the world. He acknowledges his fury, his need for a future, and his wish for a meaningful life. He reconsiders his attitudes about white people, whether they are prejudiced, like Britten, or accepting, like Jan. Max is able to deeply understand Bigger’s emotions. Bigger then realizes that Max and Jan are really trying to help him. Bigger accepts his fate. When Max is leaving, he tells him to â€Å"Tell†¦. Tell mister†¦. Tell Jan hello†¦. † (430). He finally calls him by his first name. He begins to see whites as individuals rather than an intimidating mass of hate. Bigger now perceives himself and others in a way that he hasn’t before. Bigger has redeemed himself. Here, Wright indicates that the inner liberation will only come from within them. Native Son effectively portrays that in Fear, oppression leads to blindness, causing blacks and whites to reject and misunderstand each other. He then portrays in Flight (caused by fear), that oppression leads to dehumanization, causing Bigger to commit actions that gives him the illusion of freedom. Lastly, we see in Flight that his freedom is perhaps only an illusion, and that the only way to come clean and accept things for the way they are is through redemption. It is clear that redemption can only from within through understanding. In the end, Bigger sees himself equal to whites, and has looked past racism. [ 2 ]. Duffus, Matthew. Mississippi Writers Page. 26 January 1999. 12 April 2009 . 3 ]. Duffus, Matthew. Mississippi Writers Page. 26 January 1999. 12 April 2009 . [ 4 ]. Kinnamon, Keneth. The Emergence of Richard Wright. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1945. [ 5 ]. Duffus, Matthew. Mississippi Writers Page. 26 January 1999. 12 April 2009 . [ 6 ]. Kinnamon, Keneth. The Emergence of Richard Wright. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1945. [ 7 ]. Applebee, Flannery. Savannah Morning News. 29 March 2007. 16 April 2009 . [ 8 ]. Note that Double-consciousness is the actual term for the search of a Negro’s identity. This term derived from W. E. B. Dubois.