Richard Wright was an African American writer born in Nachetz, Mississippi on September 4, 1908. He died in Paris, France on November 25, 1960. His father was a poor farmer who could not read and his mother was a country school teacher. In 1914, his father abandoned the family and Wright's education began to fluctuate because he moved from school to school. When Wright was still young and not able to read, he knew very well the racial discrimination against him. His uncle was lynched when he was at a very young age. Wright understood the darkness of discrimination and experienced many dark events while growing up. At the age of 19, Wright moved to Chicago, Illinois where he could pursue his goal of becoming a writer. Later, his family moved to Chicago to be with him. He supported his family by getting a job at the Federal Negro Theater Project in the Works Progress Administration which is a government agency. Later, he became a writer for the Illinois Writers project. He joined the John Reed Club, which is a Communist Party. He became a regular writer for the Communist Paper. In 1937, he became a writer for the Daily Worker and gained a respectable reputation. In 1938, he wrote four short stories that reached a large audience, published as Uncle Tom's Children. In 1940, he wrote his first novel, Native Son. Also in 1940, He was married and divorced and married again. Then he broke away from the Communist Party and wrote the story Black Boy, which is an autobiography. He moved to Paris, France with his wife and kid. In 1953, he became ill and died three days later. He was a successful writer and touched many lives. Source: http://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Wright-Richard.html
Plot Synothis: This Story is about a 20 year old man, named Bigger Thomas, who grew up during a time of racial discrimination. He starts to work for a rich, white family named the Daltons. His first day on the job, he was suppose to drive their daughter, Mary Dalton, to the University. Instead, she tells him to drive to a different place. They picked up her secret boyfriend named Jan. Jan is a communist who wants equality through all races and talks to Bigger about this specific topic. Bigger becomes very uncomfortable during this talk. A little later, Bigger drives Miss Dalton home who is very drunk. He has to carry her to her room because she can't walk. He accidently kills Mary and now does not know what to do. The story goes on about Bigger Thomas who is on the run and shows racial discrimination throughout. This story is very suspenseful with new events and obstacles. Will Bigger get caught or will he have to hide for the rest of his life? Once you start this story you will not be able to put it down.
Literary Analysis
Richard Wright is a well repected author in the African American community. One reason he was so successful was through emotion. His word choice is so well choosen, he can make any reader feel as he wants them to feel. Wright also used a lot of symbolism in this book. He shows discrimination and sterotypes throughout the story. Most of the symbols he used are black and white skinned people. He uses these symbols to get emotion out of the readers and to prove a point. The black people in this story represent people who are judged and the minority. He shows how they are all sterotyped into being bad people who all do crimes. While the white people represent the majority of the group and the more powerful people. He shows how being the minority and getting beat up on can push people to the ultimate limit. This limit can be strong enough to kill the first person in your sight. Getting emotionally attacked is one of the strongest things that can affect another person. Also, he shows through these symbols that most people only care about themselves and their "kind". Through the story he wants the reader to understand this is wrong and how we should not even think of black and white skinned people but think that we are all equal and should be treated equal. The theme of this story is not to judge people for what they look like but who they are inside. Everyone is equal and should be treated equal. Wright shows this through the symbols of whites being more powerful in the story than blacks. This is a good message that everyone should know and follow.
Literacy Information: Genre: This book is a mix of many types of genres but mostly falls under African American Literature.
African American Literature are books written by authors of African decesdants. Most books in this genre are about slavery, racism and equality. They deal with problems in the society. Today, this type of literature is now accepted in American Literature.
Style: Richard Wright's style is what made this book a success. The way Wright wrote his book was what made the theme so special and stand out. Wright mostly wrote in dialect and jargon to put the reader in the time period of1930s. The black inner city kids spoke with accents and slang while the Dalton family spoke with intelligence and formal language. This story is written in first person point of view (unreliable narrator) which makes this a special story. We learn and feel through the main character Bigger Thomas and what he has to go through. If this story was not written in first person point of view it would not have been so successful. Also, Wright made this book a hit through his sentence structures. During the suspenseful parts he used more complex sentences to create a higher sense of energy. Also, his word choice made the reader connect to the story and become emotional attach to the characters. This story would not have been as good if it weren't for the writing. The way Wright wrote thestory is what made it so suspensful and emotional to the reader.
Critisim:
I really enjoyed and appriciated this book. I would rate it 4.5 stars out of 5. I thought this book really showed how life was back in Chicago, during the 1930s. I really understood the feelings and emotions that were shown through the black characters, in this story and what they had to go through. They had a really hard life and that was portrayed well. This book also shows and teaches a good lesson on how everyone is equal and should be treated equal. It taught me that segregation was very extreme and ridiculous. I never knew how bad it really was until this book. I appriciate Richard Wright for letting everyone know what happened and why it should never happen.
What I did not like about the book was that throughout the story he repeats a lot of the same feelings. He is consistently saying how Bigger Thomas feels. How Bigger feels so strong and inferior to whites. I understand he wants to make this feeling stand out and powerful but the readers get it after the first few times. Also, another thing I did not like was the books length. It was way to long and dragged out. It felt like it kept going on and on, and that is not a feeling a reader should have. They could have made it a lot shorter. For example, one speech in the book was 40 pages long. They could have shorten the speech by making it to the point while still having the same affect. Besides the repitition of feelings and the length of this book, I thought it was one of the best books I have read.
Biography:
Richard Wright was an African American writer born in Nachetz, Mississippi on September 4, 1908. He died in Paris, France on November 25, 1960. His father was a poor farmer who could not read and his mother was a country school teacher. In 1914, his father abandoned the family and Wright's education began to fluctuate because he moved from school to school. When Wright was still young and not able to read, he knew very well the racial discrimination against him. His uncle was lynched when he was at a very young age. Wright understood the darkness of discrimination and experienced many dark events while growing up. At the age of 19, Wright moved to Chicago, Illinois where he could pursue his goal of becoming a writer. Later, his family moved to Chicago to be with him. He supported his family by getting a job at the Federal Negro Theater Project in the Works Progress Administration which is a government agency. Later, he became a writer for the Illinois Writers project. He joined the John Reed Club, which is a Communist Party. He became a regular writer for the Communist Paper. In 1937, he became a writer for the Daily Worker and gained a respectable reputation. In 1938, he wrote four short stories that reached a large audience, published as Uncle Tom's Children. In 1940, he wrote his first novel, Native Son. Also in 1940, He was married and divorced and married again. Then he broke away from the Communist Party and wrote the story Black Boy, which is an autobiography. He moved to Paris, France with his wife and kid. In 1953, he became ill and died three days later. He was a successful writer and touched many lives.
Source: http://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Wright-Richard.html
Plot Synothis:
This Story is about a 20 year old man, named Bigger Thomas, who grew up during a time of racial discrimination. He starts to work for a rich, white family named the Daltons. His first day on the job, he was suppose to drive their daughter, Mary Dalton, to the University. Instead, she tells him to drive to a different place. They picked up her secret boyfriend named Jan. Jan is a communist who wants equality through all races and talks to Bigger about this specific topic. Bigger becomes very uncomfortable during this talk. A little later, Bigger drives Miss Dalton home who is very drunk. He has to carry her to her room because she can't walk. He accidently kills Mary and now does not know what to do. The story goes on about Bigger Thomas who is on the run and shows racial discrimination throughout. This story is very suspenseful with new events and obstacles. Will Bigger get caught or will he have to hide for the rest of his life? Once you start this story you will not be able to put it down.
Literary Analysis
Richard Wright is a well repected author in the African American community. One reason he was so successful was through emotion. His word choice is so well choosen, he can make any reader feel as he wants them to feel. Wright also used a lot of symbolism in this book. He shows discrimination and sterotypes throughout the story. Most of the symbols he used are black and white skinned people. He uses these symbols to get emotion out of the readers and to prove a point. The black people in this story represent people who are judged and the minority. He shows how they are all sterotyped into being bad people who all do crimes. While the white people represent the majority of the group and the more powerful people. He shows how being the minority and getting beat up on can push people to the ultimate limit. This limit can be strong enough to kill the first person in your sight. Getting emotionally attacked is one of the strongest things that can affect another person. Also, he shows through these symbols that most people only care about themselves and their "kind". Through the story he wants the reader to understand this is wrong and how we should not even think of black and white skinned people but think that we are all equal and should be treated equal. The theme of this story is not to judge people for what they look like but who they are inside. Everyone is equal and should be treated equal. Wright shows this through the symbols of whites being more powerful in the story than blacks. This is a good message that everyone should know and follow.
Literacy Information:
Genre: This book is a mix of many types of genres but mostly falls under African American Literature.
African American Literature are books written by authors of African decesdants. Most books in this genre are about slavery, racism and equality. They deal with problems in the society. Today, this type of literature is now accepted in American Literature.
Style: Richard Wright's style is what made this book a success. The way Wright wrote his book was what made the theme so special and stand out. Wright mostly wrote in dialect and jargon to put the reader in the time period of1930s. The black inner city kids spoke with accents and slang while the Dalton family spoke with intelligence and formal language. This story is written in first person point of view (unreliable narrator) which makes this a special story. We learn and feel through the main character Bigger Thomas and what he has to go through. If this story was not written in first person point of view it would not have been so successful. Also, Wright made this book a hit through his sentence structures. During the suspenseful parts he used more complex sentences to create a higher sense of energy. Also, his word choice made the reader connect to the story and become emotional attach to the characters. This story would not have been as good if it weren't for the writing. The way Wright wrote thestory is what made it so suspensful and emotional to the reader.
Critisim:
I really enjoyed and appriciated this book. I would rate it 4.5 stars out of 5. I thought this book really showed how life was back in Chicago, during the 1930s. I really understood the feelings and emotions that were shown through the black characters, in this story and what they had to go through. They had a really hard life and that was portrayed well. This book also shows and teaches a good lesson on how everyone is equal and should be treated equal. It taught me that segregation was very extreme and ridiculous. I never knew how bad it really was until this book. I appriciate Richard Wright for letting everyone know what happened and why it should never happen.
What I did not like about the book was that throughout the story he repeats a lot of the same feelings. He is consistently saying how Bigger Thomas feels. How Bigger feels so strong and inferior to whites. I understand he wants to make this feeling stand out and powerful but the readers get it after the first few times. Also, another thing I did not like was the books length. It was way to long and dragged out. It felt like it kept going on and on, and that is not a feeling a reader should have. They could have made it a lot shorter. For example, one speech in the book was 40 pages long. They could have shorten the speech by making it to the point while still having the same affect. Besides the repitition of feelings and the length of this book, I thought it was one of the best books I have read.
If you enjoyed this book you may also enjoy:
1984- For the suspense
The Memory Keeper's Daughter -For the emotion