Cultural Context: Big Black Good Man
“Olaf lost control of his reflexes of his body and he felt a hot stickiness flooding his underwear”(Wright 188). Richard Wright’s “Big Black Good Man” engulfs the reader’s attention and mind through the usage of strong dialogue between characters and the involvement of a descriptive narrative. The over-exaggerated, dramatic description that Olaf has describing Jim gave a realistic sense of the dehumanizing of another character. The author wrote this story during the Civil Rights Movement, in which African Americans were seeking their own independence and rights from those who oppressed them. Richard Wright’s writing “Big Black Good Man” describes the cultural differences between races and how prominent it was for the African American cultural to be racially profiled.
The story starts out with one of the main characters, Olaf Jenson. He is recollecting within his mind a summary of the life he has lived. His remembrance included stating places he lived and visited, to the tenant that …show more content…
The country of Denmark’s population of African Americans was very low during the 1950s. Olaf was not a racist; he has dealt with all races, including black, but the sailor Jim was different. Jim did not seem human to Olaf. In the story “Big Black Good Man”, labeling against the black male Jim was obvious from the beginning when Olaf first met Jim. Olaf described Jim as a huge man with “skin so black that it had a bluish tint” (Wright 185). Olaf went into a deeper labeling of Jim, describing his chest that “bulged like a barrel”... to his “rocklike and humped shoulders; the stomach ballooned like a threatening stone; and Jim’s legs were like huge telephone poles” (Wright 185). The ways that Olaf described Jim displayed a sense of fear from Olaf. As the story progresses, Olaf judges and labels Jim even more. Olaf had no personal connection to Jim, but Olaf profiled him from his physical
“Olaf lost control of his reflexes of his body and he felt a hot stickiness flooding his underwear”(Wright 188). Richard Wright’s “Big Black Good Man” engulfs the reader’s attention and mind through the usage of strong dialogue between characters and the involvement of a descriptive narrative. The over-exaggerated, dramatic description that Olaf has describing Jim gave a realistic sense of the dehumanizing of another character. The author wrote this story during the Civil Rights Movement, in which African Americans were seeking their own independence and rights from those who oppressed them. Richard Wright’s writing “Big Black Good Man” describes the cultural differences between races and how prominent it was for the African American cultural to be racially profiled.
The story starts out with one of the main characters, Olaf Jenson. He is recollecting within his mind a summary of the life he has lived. His remembrance included stating places he lived and visited, to the tenant that …show more content…
The country of Denmark’s population of African Americans was very low during the 1950s. Olaf was not a racist; he has dealt with all races, including black, but the sailor Jim was different. Jim did not seem human to Olaf. In the story “Big Black Good Man”, labeling against the black male Jim was obvious from the beginning when Olaf first met Jim. Olaf described Jim as a huge man with “skin so black that it had a bluish tint” (Wright 185). Olaf went into a deeper labeling of Jim, describing his chest that “bulged like a barrel”... to his “rocklike and humped shoulders; the stomach ballooned like a threatening stone; and Jim’s legs were like huge telephone poles” (Wright 185). The ways that Olaf described Jim displayed a sense of fear from Olaf. As the story progresses, Olaf judges and labels Jim even more. Olaf had no personal connection to Jim, but Olaf profiled him from his physical