The outsider - Book Report/Review Example

Richard Wright’s “The Outsider” One of the best written narratives regarding the complexities of racism in America, especially in a time when McCarthyism, the Cold War, and racism on blacks were dominant in the United States, was the novel written by Richard Wright entitled “The Outsider.” In this novel, Wright actually draws out a picture of a Negro intellectual, who, after he was mistakenly pronounced dead by authorities, started to search the deeper meaning of life and existence as a whole (Wright1-629).

In addition, as Cross (the Negro intellectual) searchers for the meaning of life as an outsider, he actually encounters different characters and perspectives on what life is all about, leading him to associate with “outsider” communists, his rejection of religion, and as well as his rejection of the present structure and order of society (Wright1-629). In this case, the researcher would try to focus on the following discussion question: What does the idea of being an outsider say about Richard Wright?

In able to answer this discussion question, the researcher would try to look at two main references: his novel “The Outsider,” specifically on the part where Cross ponders on the psychology of the Negro, and as well as the existing socio-cultural and political context on the lifetime of its author, Richard Wright. To give a background, Richard Wright, a Negro, was actually born on September 4, 1908 in Natchez, Mississippi to slave parents (Books and Writers n. p.). In this case, as he moved from his hometown Mississippi to Chicago, and soon, to New York, he actually encountered the different themes that were present in the novel “The Outsider:” the harsh realities of being a slave, the rejection he suffered simply by being a Negro in a white dominated society, his struggles in unemployment, and as well as his experiment with the Communist Party (Books and Writers n. p.).

Although it cannot be said that “The Outsider” was actually a narrative of his biography, it still can be seen that some of the most dominant themes in the book, as well as the reflections of the major character Cross, actually reflected part of his struggles, his ideas, and his experiences as he wrote and published the book in 1953, an era where in addition to racism, communism was also perceived as a major “threat” by the American government (Books and Writers n. p.). However, before the researcher can state the idea of being an “outsider” and on what does it say about Richard Wright, it is important to get a probable definition of the “outsider” from Wrights novel.

In this case, the researcher would like to present an important quote from pages 499-501, which states that "The way Negroes were transported to this country and sold into slavery, then stripped of their tribal culture and held in bondage; and then allowed, so teasingly and over so long a period of time, to be sucked into our way of life is something which resembles the rise of all men from whatever it was we all came from," Houston said, the smile on his lips playful and knowing. "I mean this," Houston hastened to explain.

"Negroes, as they enter our culture, are going to inherit the problems we have, but with a difference. They are outsiders and they are going to know that they have these problems. They are going to be self-conscious; they are going to be gifted with a double vision, for, being Negroes, they are going to be both inside and outside of our culture at the same time. Every emotional and cultural convulsion that ever shook the heart and soul of Western man will shake them. Negroes will develop unique and specially defined psychological types.

They will become psychological men, like the Jews…They will not only be Americans or Negroes; they will be centers of knowing, so to speak…The political, social, and psychological consequences of this will be enormous…" (Wright 499-501) From the said excerpt, it is explained what the Negro’s dilemma would be; that is, being an outsider in an alien society, which they will strive to call them their own (Wright 499-501). In this case, the Negro is an outsider from the fact that he was forcibly taken into a society to be slaves for the white man, oppressed and stripped of the culture which defines their identity, and despite suffering from this historical circumstance, here they are struggling to assimilate in a society where they are trying to assimilate and adapt, while the Western white man are keeping them from doing so; this makes for a situation where in the Negro will continue to suffer from the historical circumstances that brought them to an alien land, and as well as the “political, social, and psychological consequences” that they will endure in a society that they will still try to belong to (Wright 499-501).

In this case, such concept of the outsider truly reflects Richard Wright’s views and ideas on himself, and with respect to the society where he belongs to: he is born from slave parents, struggled to meet his ends, and ultimately joined a communist party (that he will soon abandon) in his desire to change society and give meaning on the life of a Negro in American society, all while experiencing the harsh realities of being in a white-dominated racist society. Wright is in some respect an outsider on the fact that he tries to assimilate himself at meet ends on American society, meeting other whites that sought change, all while reflecting upon the loss of meaning of the existence of a Negro in America due to the historical and cultural dislocation that they experienced, and as well as the oppression and discrimination that they are forced to deal with.

Works Cited Books and Writers. “Richard (Nathaniel) Wright (1908-1960).” kirjasto.sci.fi. Books and Writers, n. d. Web. 24 April 2011. Hughes, Marjorie. “The Outsider.” nathanielturner.com. NathanielTurner.com, n. d. Web. 24 April 2011. Mullen, Bill. "Richard Wright (1908-1960)." english.illinois.edu. University of Illinois, n. d. Web. 24 April 2011. Nance, Kevin. "Celebrating Black History Month: Richard Wright." suntimes.com. Chicago Sun-Times, n. d. Web. 24 April 2011. "Richard Wright.

" harpercollins.com. Harper Collins, n. d. Web. 24 April 2011. Wright, Richard. The Outsider. New York: Harper Collins, 1953. Print.