A Study of the Healing Process from Slavery and Racism Essay

Richard Wright’s “Native Son” Bigger shows us the short end of the stick of how it feels to be seen as a second-class citizen for being black. His speech talking about how he feels like a prisoner in this world just because he is black. (Wright P.17) This prison pain of Bigger in Wright’s novel shows how the negative effects of fear and discrimination affect minorities in our society. This discrimination just for existence is mirrored in the “Diary of Anne Frank” and “The Color of Water”. In the Diary of Anne Frank, spends two years of her life in an attic with her family and other Jewish people, hiding from the government trying to capture them just because they are Jewish. In “The Color of Water” Ruth McBride describes how the KKK was a huge part of her hometown. That whenever a car full of white hoods drove past, any African Americans in the store would run home, Ruth did the same thing, knowing her family was also in danger. (McBride P.58)

Critics struggle to fit Douglass’s narrative into a literary genre, some believe it fits within the realm of Romanticism while others argue his narrative belongs under Realism. In nineteen century America, the African American voice was missing from literature. Slave narratives were not taken seriously and most slaves were not taught how to read or write. Douglass’s was a self-taught slave his narrative was a game changer Douglass was considered an intellectual and respected by most as a reputable author. Douglass’s narrative is difficult to place within genre because it has aspects of both realism and romanticism. It is realistic to have a narrative explaining the horrors of slavery: some of the horrors so terrible it is hard for someone

From the import and enslavement of Africans to the mass movement and genocide of a multitude of Native peoples, the captivity and enslavement of these peoples are among the worst travesties in the history of the United States of America. In Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, she writes autobiographically about the Native American raid on her village, the capture of herself and others including her children and other relatives, the way she was treated by her captors, and her eventual release back into English custody. Next, we have excerpts from “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass. Douglass’s account of his life as a slave in the American south showed how horrendous

At a young age the free African-American slave faced difficult situations. He became an orphan before the age of 8. Two years later his uncle sent him off to work for a plantation owner named “Captain”. At the age of 18 he attempted to run away, but Captain found him. The author had voilated the contract by running away and was whipped. At age twenty-one he signed a contract with Captain under the circumstances that he would be treated better. He married Mandy, one of the maids. It was not until the death of Captain, five years later that things went downhill. Captain’s son, which was now a Senator that took control

My paper is an attempt to analyze the entire era of slavery and its later effects upon the lives of Africans who were brought forcefully to America as slaves and even after its abolition were treated inhumanly. My major attempt is to get an in depth insight of the struggles of these people for their survival in such an environment and the predicament of black women who were doubly oppressed; were the victims of both the whites and black men; and treated as naked savages and beasts, with Alice Walker’ masterpiece and Pulitzer prize winning The Color Purple. I have taken this project with my keen interest because the novel touched me deeply and I wanted to analyze it thoroughly.

People could empathize with him and his journey as they had faced or were still facing the horrifying torture of slavery. The liberation Douglass felt through his literary expression was particularly important in the civil rights movement because it encouraged slaves to have their voices heard even if they could not escape the realities of daily life, literary expression proved as an escape in itself. For a slave in the south, all kinds of identity were stripped from them. All of their self-worth and aspirations were ‘lost’ and in order for them to be found they must free

The second part of Guthrie’s book entails more about the early struggles of African Americans. I immediately get the same feelings of anger where I left off from the previous chapter readings. I realized how the stigma of the black skin tone was introduced into the new world which somehow provided justice for the white American society to enslave the African population. Immediately forced into slavery to do jobs white American’s would not. What upsets me most is the identification placed upon blacks as “bucks”, “wenches” and “pickaninnies”, all in an effort to destroy their self-image and self-concept. Blacks became their property like animals, held captive having to adapt to their masters thinking patterns and deny their own dignity. This is sheer humiliation. I reflect on their amazing strength to endure such hardship. I don’t think I could have survived during those times. I picture this scene in my head as I recall the movie “Roots” and the horror of slavery. I was upset when I watched the movie and I’m upset as a read how people’s lives were less than nothing to others. The suppression of their feelings is amazing to me as it became their defense mechanisms to get through difficult situations that slavery imposed upon them just in order for them to survive. As slaves begin to rebel and run away, they labeled them with a mental disorder called “drapetomania”. I just couldn’t believe what I was reading! This is truly insane and to classify it within the DSM mental

The book Native son is based in the 1930s about a black man named Bigger Thomas and his troubles as a black person in this bad time of segregation and oppression. In this debate we discussed about the murder of Mr.Dalton’s daughter and if Bigger or society were the ones at fault for her death. This debate is important because it touches on the subject of segregation and fear upon another minority race but also on the ongoing story of Native Son. My group was against society and we believed that Bigger was truly the one at fault because of these points. Bigger Thomas knew the consequences of being in a white girl’s room but still continued to carry Mary to her room which eventually led to her death. When Mrs.Dalton had came into the room Bigger had the power to choose his actions but he thought it was necessary to smother Mary to death. Her death was not due to society or how grew up thinking; it was his choice to kill her in the end with his own hands. He took pleasure in the excitement; not the other way around.

Have you ever realized that in life, the only thing ever holding people back from what they want is their fear of not being good enough? The fear that develops slowly into a constant anxiety over every decision one makes as a result of fear that they’ll repeat their past mistakes over and over again. The novel, Native Son written by Richard Wright, depicts this aspect well as the actions of the main character, Bigger Thomas, a twenty-year old oppressed African American living in a white supremacist society in Chicago, is driven solely on his own fear. Bigger Thomas lives in a segregated society during the 1930s where it is standard for black people to be disdained by the white community. This causes him to feel oppressed and subjected by the white community surrounding him throughout the novel, as it is an event that he knows is inalterable despite how many people may feel about it.

In the mid-1800’s, blacks legally got freedom and equality under the law, but some argue that they are still not treated equally today. In the book, Native Son, Richard Wright shows the racism and unequal treatment towards blacks in the city of Chicago. Bigger obtains a job being a chauffeur for a white family. The job only lasts a few hours because he murders their daughter, Mary Dalton. As Bigger goes through a trial, Mr. Max learns a lot about Bigger and how his life led to his actions. Mr. Max explains how the horrible treatment towards blacks impacts them more physically and emotionally than one can see by just looking at someone. The United States does not live up to the promise of “liberty and justice for all” because whites accuse blacks for terrible things without any evidence; blacks pay higher rent for the same apartments, and blacks are segregated from certain schools and jobs.

It is essential for a book to be adventurous and exciting. There are numerous reasons to keep the readers get interested to the book they are reading, however, it should produce a healthy confusion for the readers according to a critic. In Native Son, a boy who has lived with fear in a place where people like Bigger is strongly unacceptable, this greatly contributes the “pleasure and disquietude” experienced by the readers. Although, it is a personal book pertaining mainly to African-American and crooked beliefs of society as well, it allows readers to empathize Bigger’s character. Wright prudently describes details through vivid imagery and symbols to provide confusions.

Richard Wright, an author in the nineteen forties, wrote a book explaining the brutal reality of being a black man in the nineteen thirties. Wright made up the character Bigger Thomas. Bigger was an uneducated twenty year old who lived in poverty on the Southside of Chicago. Bigger and his family were the definition of poor. Bigger and his family lived in a single room apartment that was infested with rats. Wright not only showed the physical struggles of being black person in the thirties, but also the mental effects of it. The society in the nineteen thirties could make one feel angry, depressed, frightened, and even defenseless. The time period made Bigger feel angry and defenseless. In order to feel some kind of power, Bigger bullied who were just like him. Bigger bullied the weak and oppressed who had given up hope. Wright made it known that Bigger felt that women were the weakest links in the story because they had accepted being oppressed and refused to fight. Bigger treated the women in Native Son horrible in order to feel some sense of power.

Slavery did not only affect the United States, but also the economy of the United States. The only states with African slavery, were Maryland and Virginia, becoming foundation of the Southern agrarian economy. According to Anti-slavery.org, in 2014, the International Labour Organisation, stated that “about 20.9 million men, women and children, around the world are in slavery”. This tells you that slavery was a worldwide situation in the modern times. Every gender is affected in slavery. Men, women and many children. All slaves were condemned to impoverishment by law. Slaves also could not participate in any wage working trade or labor. Most slaves could not own property, because they lived in shelters, which were owned by the masters. There are different types of slavery, that exist today. For example, child slavery, and human trafficking. “Child

Douglas narrates his personal experience and knowledge of his slave status from early childhood where Jacobs was not even aware she was a slave until about six years of age. He describes the living conditions he faced “their clothing consisted of two coarse linen shirts per year. When these failed them, they went naked until the next allowance-day. Children from seven to ten years old, of both sexes, almost naked, might be seen at all seasons of the year.” He describes to the reader the difficulty of normal everyday living conditions; “There were no beds given the slaves” and “they find less difficulty from the want of beds, than from the want of time to sleep.” (Douglass) As if the deprivation of simple living conditions were not enough, Douglas compels to the heart of his readers by revealing his emotional state in times when though he understood how to gain freedom it still seemed to be just out of his grasp. “The silver trump of freedom had roused my soul to eternal wakefulness. Freedom now appeared, to disappear no more forever. It was heard in every sound, and seen in every thing. It was ever present to torment me with a sense of my wretched condition.” (Douglass) He exposes the vulgar details of recalling how his aunt was beaten by her master when he was a child. “I have often been awakened

     Black Boy challenges our stereotypical thinking of the South and the North. In the South, Wright shows how ignorance and racial discrimination lead to prejudice and self-hatred. Wright shows how Communists dominate intellectual communion and social contacts in the North. At the end of Black Boy, Wright has a clear awareness that all the places where he experienced has threatened to diminish his spirit. Wright’s Black Boy sends a message of optimism about the possibility of the black Southerners achieving a fulfilling sense of identity in America.