MODEL E3 Final

ORGANIZATIONAL Checklist for E3 term paper:

LOC: Locate your claim by mentioning one named critic first.

CLAIM: Make an overt and explicit statement of what ARGUABLE CLAIM you will prove: "In this analysis, I will show that---"

FORE: FORECAST STATEMENT after your ARGUABLE CLAIM. Keywords relating to the types of evidence will be repeated in topic sentences in the support section to remind readers of where they are in your argument.

"In this analysis, I will show that--- by citing ---, ---, and --- (your types of textual evidence: speeches of characters, biographies, critics' claims, etc)."

CONCLUSION: Conclusion should mention name of writer and text. (1) You should explain why you have shown your position to be a stronger reading then another one, which you describe. (2) Yes, you need to use "I" in this conclusion and self-reflect upon the work you have done. (3) Why has this work aided and deepened our appreciation of the text(s)? (4) You also should tell anything that you learned in process of analysis. (5) Optionally, what more work that could be done?

An Analysis of Prejudice in the Characters of

Olaf Jenson and Jim in Wright's "Big Black Good Man"

“Big Black Good Man” is a short story written by Richard Wright. This is the story of a white man and a black man and the prejudices that ensue. LOC In contrast to the opinion of Carolyn Ridley in Contemporary Literary Criticism,CLAIM I will show that Jim, a black man, intentionally brought about prejudice in Olaf Jenson, a white man who had no prejudices prior to Jim’s arrival. FORE I will reveal this in a couple of ways. First, through Jim’s intentional actions and then through Olaf’s reactions and emotions.

Good FORECAST.

Richard Wright has been acclaimed as a writer who is “…considered the most esteemed spokesman for the oppressed black American in the late 1930’s and 1940’s” (Ridley, Vol. 21, 434). His books have continually centered on the prejudices of white people against black people. It has been said, “In many respects, the stories could be classified as…sociological studies with negroes created as the human beings and whites as the generalized evil figures”(Ridley, Vol. 4, 594). In this story, the roles and the prejudices have been reversed.

.

This is the tale of an Olaf, a white ex-sailor, from Copenhagen, who was a happy

man. He pleasantly reflects that Well, I’ll be sixty tomorrow. I’m not rich but I’m

not poor either…Really, I can’t complain. Got good health. Traveled all over the

world and had my share of girls when I was young…And my

Karen’s a good wife. I own my home. Got no debts. And I love

digging in the garden in the spring…I’m satisfied… (Wright 206)

Stated very early in the story is the fact that”…he liked sailors. They reminded him of his youth, and there was something so direct, simple, and childlike about them. They always said straight out what they wanted…Olaf took in all comers - blacks, yellows, whites, and browns...To Olaf, men were men, and, in his day, he’d worked and eaten and slept and fought with all kinds of men.” (Wright 207). Olaf was not a prejudiced man. That is until he met Jim.

Olaf’s first encounter with Jim is related by the narrator with awe, “He lifted his eye, and then sucked in his breath. He did not straighten; he just stared up and around at the huge black thing that filled the doorway. His reflexes refused to function; it was not fear; it was just simple astonishment. He was staring at the biggest, strangest, and blackest man he’d ever seen in his whole life. ‘Good evening’, the black giant said in a voice that filled the small office. ‘Say, you got a room?’” (Wright, 207). He had never seen anyone like Jim before. There was no prejudice, just wonderment.

NEED INTRO

Olaf sat up slowly, not to answer but to look at his brooding black vision; it towered
darkly some six and as half feet into the air, almost reaching the ceiling, and its skin was so black
that it had a bluish tint. And the sheer bulk of the man!…His chest bulged like a barrel; his
rocklike and humped shoulders hinted of mountain ridges; the stomach ballooned like a
threatening stone; and the legs were like telephone poles… The big black cloud of a man now
lumbered into the office, bending to get its buffalolike head under the door frame, then advanced
slowly upon Olaf, like a stormy sky descending. (Wright 207)

Jim acted like a man who knew he could, and would, get what he wanted. The black mass of a man had spoken in a manner that indicated that it was taken for granted that Olaf would obey” (Wright 208). This was a man who knew he was impressive and ominous in size and was not above using it to get what he wanted. Olaf was starting to feel threatened by Jim as he realized that

…this particular black man…Well, he didn’t seem human. Too big, too black, too
loud, too direct, and probably too violent to boot…Olaf’s five feet seven inches scarcely
reached the black giant’s shoulder and his frail body weighed less, perhaps, then one of the
man’s gigantic legs…There was something about the man’s intense blackness and ungainly
bigness that frightened and insulted Olaf: he felt as though this man had come here expressly
to remind him how puny, how tiny, and how weak and how white he was… for the first time
in his life, he was emotionally determined to refuse a man a room solely on the basis of the
man’s size and color. (Wright 208)

When asked again if there was a room available, Olaf meekly gave in, realizing “…at once he was ashamed and confused. Sheer fear had made him yield. And he seethed against himself for his involuntary weakness” (Wright 208). When Olaf went to take Jim’s suitcase to his room he told that he would carry his own bag. Olaf angrily thinks, “He thinks I’m nothing…” (Wright 209).

Olaf is confused at these new feelings he’s experiencing as he exclaims “…I‘m not prejudiced…” (Wright 209). Jim told Olaf that he wanted a bottle of whiskey and a woman and wanted it done quickly. “Yes, Olaf whispered, wild with anger and insult. But what was he angry about? He‘d had requests like this every night from all sorts of men and he was used to fulfilling them…” (Wright 209). After much internal turmoil Olaf reluctantly agrees to get the whiskey and a woman. The more Olaf has to deal with and think about Jim, the more irritated he becomes as he laments

But, try as he might, he just could not shake off a primitive hate for that black
mountain of energy, of muscle, of bone…he winced at the booming and commanding voice
that came to him when the tiny little eyes were not even looking at him; he shivered at
the sight of those vast and clawlike hands that seemed always to hint of death” (Wright
210).

Olaf remains unsure of these new feelings becoming “…nervous and angry with himself for bring nervous. Other black sailors came and asked for girls and Olaf sent them. But with none of the fear and loathing that he sent Lena and a bottle of whiskey to the giant…(Wright 211)

Olaf anxiously waits for Jim to leave. He does Jim’s bidding without a word. When the time comes for Jim to depart Olaf is “…relieved, but filled as always with fear of this living wall of black flesh” (Wright 211). Before Jim goes

…a strange tension entered the office…the black mass of power stood still,
immobile, looking down at Olaf. Then Olaf sucked in his breath as the devil of

blackness commanded: ’Stand up!’ As though hypnotized, Olaf tried to rise; then
he felt the black paw of the beast helping him roughly to his feet…. then with a
slow and deliberate movement of his gorilla like arms, he lifted his mammoth hands
to Olaf’s throat. Then he knew that his end had come when the giant’s black fingers
slowly, softly encircled his throat while a horrible grin of delight broke out on the
sooty face…Olaf lost control of the reflexes of his body and he felt a hot stickiness
flooding his underwear…” (Wright 211-212).

Olaf is positive he will be killed. Terrified, he thinks “Oh God, he’s teasing me…He’s showing me how easily he can kill me…He swallowed, waiting…The giants barrel-like chest gave forth a low, rumbling chuckle…’You laugh?’ asked Olaf whimperingly. ‘Sure I laugh,’ the giant shouted. (Wright 212)

Olaf begs for his life and Jim mocks him until finally “…he was gone. Olaf fell limply into the swivel chair and fought off losing consciousness. Then he wept. He was showing me how easily he could kill me…He made me shake with terror and then laughed and left…” (Wright 212).

One definition of prejudice is, “An attitude or opinion about a person or group based upon that persons or groups race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, way of behaving, accent, gender, disability, or other external characteristic. Prejudice is making your mind up about what someone is like before you get to know that person” (U.S. Dept. of Justice kids page). Jim enjoyed being “Too big, too black, too loud, too direct…” (Wright 209) . Jim knew that people would do as he said because of his size and his attitude because “The black mass of a man had spoken in a manner that indicated that it was taken for granted that Olaf would obey” (Wright 208). Jim went out of his way to terrorize Olaf and then he laughed at him.

Prejudice is also “Bias for or against someone or something that fails to take true account of their characteristics” (Online Ethics Center for Engineering & Science at Case Western University) and “Negative beliefs, attitudes, or feelings about a person’s entire character based on only one characteristic” (Allpsych online The Virtual Psychology Classroom). Olaf’s interaction with Jim changed him forever as he dreamed that Jim would die a heinous death at sea as he imaged “…these fantasies of cannibalistic revenge…the fantasies lived on, and when Olaf found himself alone, it would crowd and cloud his mind to the exclusion of all else, affording him the only revenge he knew. To make me suffer just for the pleasure of it, he fumed. Just to show me how strong he was…Olaf learned how to hate, and got pleasure out of it” (Wright 213).

Olaf started this story as a happy , unprejudiced man, “…I‘m not prejudiced…” (Wright 209), with few cares in the world. Jim entered his life being “Too big, too black, too loud, too direct…” (Wright 209) and knowing that he would get whatever he wanted. Jim’s deliberate bullying and terrifying of Olaf created an environment of prejudice and hate. I have shown that Jim, a large, loud, and mocking black man, intentionally created an environment where prejudice was allowed to happen to Olaf, a gentle, accepting, and happy white man. Jim used his size, directness, and loudness to create fear and obedience in others. He caused fear and hate to happen. Fear and hate lead to prejudice.

I was intrigued when I first read this story. The story was about prejudice but from a different angle then most writers and people in general are comfortable with. A large, young black man stimulates prejudice in an old white man. After having read about Richard Wright I was further curious. Here was a well known black author who wrote about white prejudice against black people - the opposite of what was portrayed in this story. Richard Wright was a man ahead of his times. It was in 1930's white America when a black author from Mississippi wrote about white prejudice against black people. This was a man who joined the Commmunist party in 1932. A black man who married a white woman and who moved permentantly to Paris in 1947, never to see the United States again. I believe that Wright's intent was to show that prejudice isn't confined to just white people. He grew up in an era where black people shied away from white people "...he could no longer tolerate the racism...was not able to buy an apartment as a black man...was still called 'boy' by some shopkeepers..." (American National Biography Online). Maybe he foresaw a day when, upon being asked, quite a few white women would admit to shying away from and clutching their purses a little bit closer to themselves when found alone with one or more large, young black men. I know that I have been guilty of doing this before and it has not been limited to black young men. Wright saw that even people who say they have no prejudices could, under the right circumstances, develop them. I believe that that is what he wanted this story to tell. That prejudice come in all colors, knows no bounds, and is a human trait.

Works Cited

Wright, Richard, “Big Black Good Man”. Literature; Reading, Reacting, Writing.

Ed. Laurie Kirszner and Stephen Mandell. Boston: Thompson Heinle, 2004. 81-84.

Ed. Carolyn Ridley, et al. Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol. 21. Detroit, MI. 1982.

Ed. Carolyn Ridley, et al. Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol. 4. Detroit, MI. 1975.

U.S. Dept. of Justice. kids page-prejudice. 2004. 16 Nov 2004.

<http://usdoj.gov/kidspage/words.html>

<http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC>. Correct form of the URL. Change those below to standard form.

Online Ethics Center for Engineers and Science at Case Western University. 2004. 16 Nov 2004.

<http://www.unmc.edu/ethics/words.html>

Allpsych online The Virtual Psychology Classroom. 2004. 16 Nov 2004.

<http://www.Allpsych.com/dictionary/dictionary3.html>

American National Biography Online. 2004. 16 Nov 2004.

<http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-01806.html>