Realism and Violence in Uncle Toms Children - Essay Example

Realism and Violence in Uncle Tom’s Children There are some that tend to use dramatic or overly elegant prose when they are writing. This isdone to attempt to make a point. However, not all authors need to turn to this method to make their point. Richard Wright, who wrote about the injustices of white people against black people, did not need to make any embellishments in order to illustrate his point. Using stark, bare language, Wright showed readers the horrors of the worst aspects of race relations in the most effective manner, by telling about how things actually were. In his stories “Big Boy Leaves Home” and “Down by the Riverside,” Wright uses the technique of literary realism to illustrate just how terrible the treatment of black people by white people really was. To realistically portray his characters, Wright replicated the vernacular that they would have spoke. For instance, when the character Big Boy from “Big Boy Leaves Home” is thinking to himself about what to do in his situation, it is presented to us in the way that he would actually speak it out loud: “Bobod bringa gun; he knowed he would. N together they could kill the whole mob. Then in the mawning the’d git together inter Will’s truck n go far erway, t Chicawgo” (46). The character Mann from “Down by the Riverside” speaks in a similar manner: “Ahll try t take tha boat back t the white folks aftah Ah git Lulu t tha hospital. But Ah sho wish yuh hadn’t stole tha boat, Bob. But we gotta use it now. Ah don like t rile them white folks” (69). These two examples illustrate that Wright used the same language to portray a characters thoughts that he did to illustrate actual speech. If these characters hadn’t used language in the way that they actually would have, then this would have stuck out to the reader, and this would have prevented the reader from fully buying into them as realistic characters. By portraying the characters’ speech in the way they would have actually spoken, Wright added a layer of realism to these characters and stories that served to further immerse the readers in the lives of these characters. Another way that Wright uses realism to portray the condition of black people was to have them be fully aware of their position in respect to white people. When the characters come across a no trespassing sign, the character Buck matter of factly states that it “Means ain no dogs n niggers erllowed” (23), and none of the other characters think twice about it. This means that they all realize that white people consider black people to be on the same level as dogs, and they are all so fully aware of the way they are treated that none of the characters comments about this statement. While it might seem to be an extreme treatment by some, it is in fact a straight forward commentary, and the fact that the characters react in a realistic fashion serves to show the readers the treatment by white people of black people. This same treatment is evident in “Down by the Riverside” when the character Mann is attempting to save the people in the hospital by chopping a hole through the ceiling: “C mon boy! Get that hole bigger yet! Youve got to cut a hole through that roof yet!” (101). Even though Mann is the only person capable of cutting through the roof and saving the people in the hospital, he is still spoken down to and referred to as “boy.” Even though he is the one saving their lives, Mann still responds by saying “Yessuh!” This, of course, was how white people and black people were expected to talk to each other at this time, though obviously if Mann had been a “boy” he wouldn’t have been able to chop through the ceiling and save everyone. By preserving how these characters would have talked to each other in reality during those times, Wright showed that nothing was more effective to show the injustices towards black people than the simple, bare truth. Another way Wright uses realism is in his portrayal of violence. In “Big Boy leaves home, the boys in the story do nothing worse than to swim in a pool. Of course, they know what the likely outcome will be if they are caught: “N jus las year he took a shot at Bob fer swimming in here” (25). While a group of white boys might have been scolded for a similar act, these boys faced death if they for the same thing because they were black. When the boys are discovered, Big Boy states “it’s a woman!…a white woman” (29). All Big Boy needed to do was to state that it was a white woman, and all of the other characters realized how dangerous their situation had just become. For the mere fact that the boys were swimming in a pool, they are violently persecuted. First Lester and Buck are shot right in front of Big Boy, which the initial gunshot is introduced with a simple sound effect: “CRACK!” (30). Big Boy responds violently himself, turning the gun on the man that killed his friends. Big Boy also witnesses more violence as a result of their swimming trip when he sees his friend Bobo murdered at the hands of a lynch mob as Bobo was attempting to join Bog Boy in his hiding place. The descriptions of these violent acts do not attempt to glorify the violence or the heroism of the retaliation in any way; they are merely facts of these characters lives, and as such they are forced to accept them and deal with them. By not turning to heroic descriptions, Wright was knowingly portraying the violent acts more effectively, because the truth behind this sort of real life violence did not need any embellishments. Violence is also part of Mann’s world in “Down by the Riverside.” In response to Mann’s decision to use the stolen boat, Grannie states “Ah ain goin in tha boat…Ah ain goin outta here t meet mah death today” (69). Grannie and Mann both were aware of the serious repercussions if Mann was caught in the stolen boat, but the seriousness of his wife’s condition left him with no alternatives. Grannie’s fears turn out to be true when Mann is forced to kill the boat’s owner when Mann is fired jupon for merely being in possession of the stolen boat. Dealing with violence in their lives was such a common thing that Mann almost instinctively turned to its use to save his life: “Mann saw the axe, but seemed not to realize that he had been about to use it” (111). When Mann comes to a realization of what he had almost done, he realized that he couldn’t kill the boy, even though he would surely turn him in to the soldiers for killing the boy’s father, which he eventually does. Knowing the likely outcome, Mann attempts to run, knowing that he will be shot by the soldiers. Again, Wright’s descriptions of these violent acts are straight forward and without embellishment, because he knew that nothing could be as effective as the truth. Through his work, Richard Wright attempted to portray the relationship between white people and black people realistically. If he had over-exaggerated the sort of treatment that black people regularly were subjected to, then people would not have taken his work as seriously. But because he chose to realistically portray language, violence, and the relation between black people and white people, Wright created a much more effective text than any embellished over overly dramatic text could have. That is why Wright chose to use realism to make a statement about white people’s treatment of black people. Works Cited Wright, Richard, Uncle Tom’s Children. HarpCollins, New York, 2004. Read More