The Man Who Killed A Shadow Analysis

Now that I have provided background on Wright and Baldwin’s feud, it’s time to move forward and examine their work. Richard Wright’s short story, “The Man Who Killed A Shadow” shows the reality and truth of a black man’s life and how quickly it can be jeopardized when race and sex are mixed together. The text is overtly political as it points out the unjust situations that a black man faces when seduced by a white woman. This is something that Baldwin would avoid doing. The shadows in the story represent white people in society. The text states, “Surely they were not those beautiful silhouettes of objects case upon the earth by the sun. Shadows of that kind are innocent and he loved trying to catch them as he ran along the sunlit paths in the summer. But there was subtler shadows which he saw and which others could not see: the shadows of his fears” (Wright, 185). The main character, Saul, grew up with no role models to guide him in his life, and his parents and grandmother died when he was a young boy. Saul quickly had to …show more content…
The story takes place in Denmark. In the story, we get a vivid description of a man who enters the narrative. The story is told through the mind of the main character, Olaf. Through the main character’s verbal description of the black man I noticed how racist and prejudiced the man was. Before the black man even enters the narrative, Olaf talks about how he likes how sailors are direct and simple and only wanted women and whiskey. However, when a tall black sailor named Jim arrives at the hotel, he doesn’t even want to consider offering him a room, but he feels powerless in his presence and gives in. Then, when the black man requests a woman and some whiskey, he responds quite differently. He gets upset and angry that he would make such a request, and even considers saying that no women are available for the night, even though he knew that would be a