Bible Belt

            Richard Wright is taught morality through severe and sustained beatings during any act that broke moral standards. In a way he was left to himself all the way up until Grammar school and had largely existed in the world on his own. From going to bars and interacting in town life on his own, he had developed his own consciousness long before he went to school. His family taught him through church and the violence it enacted upon him whenever he acted out of line. In this case, it was once again fundamentally bible thumping southern religion that educated his family. This and societal pressures of being black in the South strongly controlled what material and upbringing he was exposed to. He predominantly learned through social interactions, but many of these interactions were through ethical god fearing people. All of his reactions and interactions were dictated in some way by people who were taught by the bible or church. Those who were not taught by the church were self educated. It was these people who went to great lengths to obtain material and expand themselves on a more basic social level rather than turning to the spiritual. 

i'm not really sure...

            At the end of the novel, Wright realizes something about American culture as a whole and the people within it. He realizes that even in their attempts at unity and understanding they cannot embrace what they do not understand and there is a restless complacency within the culture. Even whites in control who run the country are not happy and living their lives completely. To this extent, the blacks have no hopes or direction to aspire to be in which they can possess and enjoy full and meaningful lives when there is no one who can show the masses their own as an example. Even in the attempts of the communists to form their just and theoretically sound society, they cast members aside and force those they do not understand or care about to fall beneath them. He once again seeks to find meaning in a world where everything is upset and meaningless. I do believe that there is a general shallowness to societies as a whole and an imperfection amongst and between various groups within the world. I agree that with those who do not know how to achieve the hypothetical goals they desire it is difficult and dangerous to pursue them without hurting and injuring many. The world is still developing itself and attempting to move forward in its pursuit of a truly utopian and equal society where nothing is unexplained and unjust.

politicians vs artists

            I agree with Wright’s theory to an extent. In a situation, like Russia pre USSR or segregated US, early political movements are in need of numbers, public eye, and action. Politicians pursue these ends and seek numbers of people who will not only pledge support, but be active members that can instigate change. They need a majority of the unthinking masses to upset the system. Artists, who may be attracted by the idealism behind it, will seek to express their take on the glory or horrors of the theories through imagery. This can only serve to rally the support of other intellectuals or artists who can grasp the deeper meaning of the pieces. This does not serve the politicians purposes and while they are semi grateful for the support of a different group, they do not particularly care about them. The leaders desire a manifestation in the streets, not an isolated theorist with paper. What can change this, however, is in the even that the movement has established a large enough base and is kicking off as a major faction. Should this take place, artists and other groups of the given party will be used to spread the ideals to new and less understanding parties in an attempt to bolster ranks and make their thoughts supported and intricately stated. The politician has no need for the artist to begin his movement, but should it succeed or last he needs the artist in order to maintain control and spread ideology. The cast down artist is also the easiest and most dangerous form of dissent against the faction.

building a base 101

A single voice has the complete capability of moving a crowd. Various conditions must be met in order for this to happen and these can all change case by case depending on the common ground of the crowd, their goals, and what emotive or intellectual tools are used. A crowd that is feeling targeted or slighted for example, can be whipped up into a fervor very simply by a passionate clamor for justice and action. This on its own might even kick the group into motion depending on the individual’s terms. Whipping up an objectively distant and purely intrigued crowd can be quite different. Finding common ground is necessary. Without the fervor, there may be those in the crowd who can call out and dispute whatever the voice has to say. It takes a well spoken and informed individual to persuade a neutral crowd, and in the event that they are persuaded action will not be possible. It takes time for ideas to set in, opinions made, and convictions developed. Building up a neutral crowd will generally take repeated exposure and persuasion. If cards are not played correctly, a single voice can just as easily drive people away with their fervor or thoughts if they seem radical or irrational to the masses.

waitresses

            Wright extensively comments on the women who wait at his diner. He doesn’t exactly spare them any scorn, but he doesn’t do anything over the top either. His comments are a kind of reserved pitying that they can’t help themselves. What his comments do reveal is that  he has very unique qualities typically found with the “lost generation” ideals. His thoughts all carry the trademark of disapproving and being disgusted with the consumerism that the US has descended to. His judgments of their reserved shallow emotions seem a little harsh. I’m not sure it’s true that they will  live their lives void of emotions, but his passive diagnosis of their careless simplicity does suit them for the time. Their lowly station and stature at the time is a chief reason to their obliviousness towards complexities and facing real issues. While many of the blacks Wright knew turned to religion or communal/familial relations, the whites tended to focus on the same material possessions that the culture dictates, but they specifically could do very little do to their lack of money. While they could afford to spend little of their money they tossed it aside none the less in attempts to make their lives the societal norm and blind themselves to the difficulties and stark ugliness of life.

progress

            While I’m not exactly sure what the question refers to, I do believe that all of the actions, minus the boxing, that Wright takes to get him where he needs to be are good and necessary. He takes his own rebellion and education into his own hands and strikes out mentally against the South. He also is ending his era of southern oppression. His finishing up the job at the Optical Factory marks the end of his saga in the South. His last exchange with Shorty epitomizes Wright’s thoughts. His fears and dread of the South is the idea of never being able to escape and the death that comes with that. The death would be that of bondage and stuck in a rut that you can never escape or waiting for the swift and violent fury to randomly descend on you one day. While Wright does put all of his hopes into the North this also sets him up for possible emotional let down should it not turn out to be particularly better. While this is true, it is still a much safer and more open environment with less likely hood of him being beaten to do. Overall it’s difficult to state if his decisions are productive, because it’s impossible to tell what pursuits of his turn out to be constructive. The only thing that makes it undisputably a good decision is the fact that it is his pushing away from the systems he hates even if it leads to more low places, it’s still progress.

Societal Subservience - Lack of Individuality

            Subservience is a necessary part to living. Without subservience there would be no social order and the world would be chaotic. The actual definition of subservience implies unquestionable following, but this is the downside of subservience. This is giving up yourself to powers greater than you. What is important is the ability to retain yourself in subjugating circumstances in an effort to get by or improve your lot. The only system that lacks theoretical subservience is communism. Here you are still a slave to your fellow workers and those who are placed above you and deem that you must give yourself up for the communal good. Other forms of government or societal layering also require subservience, which in turn is how we have ordered structure and boundaries. What is ideal in this effort is using your retained personable ideals to deem when it is necessary to break away from the power in which you follow to something you assume is better. This is what Wright pursues in his forced working in the South. He builds up until he can move north. On a larger scale it may seem whimsically anarchist to say that any upset individual wronged by the system can upturn society, but this cannot be done by oneself. In a world where a large group is wrongfully subjugated or has supporters can change be initiated on a large scale.

coping with the south

            He had begun interacting with the White world after years of standing up for himself, his beliefs, and fighting authority. After his years of doing this with whites in the back of his mind, he was finally cast out into the real world without ever having actually experienced the harsh realities or violence first hand. It was then that he went into shock and pulled back into himself unable to interact at all. His way of life that he had been raised on had been shattered. He could no longer react, talk, and act the way he normally would without serious repercussions on his life. This manifests itself in nearly all of his jobs. It begins the most obviously with the factory optician’s job where he learns that blacks have a place and boundaries that he never learned. His constant push up breaches these boundaries and goes beyond the lowly levels that whites want blacks to stay in. The next most obvious reaction is that as a hotel bellman. He wants to fight and stand up to the night guard who gropes a girl, but gets a hold of himself just before pushing the guard into shooting him. The final point when he begins to give up and force himself to take risks in this dark world in order to escape is when he takes part of the movie theatre operation. This coupled with the stealing is his last ditch effort to cope and escape a world he didn’t belong in.

read my own words

I believe Wright is justified. The only thing that makes me hesitate is whether I, or anyone else for that matter, would be able to follow suit. I think societal life threatening pressures are a difficult thing to over come even as far as moral values that are ingrained in your being go. It speaks a great deal about him that he was able to face authority and the domineering system and go against it. Even the ability to speak out against a crowd consisting of Whites says a lot about him and his character. He sacrificed a safe future in the South, bribes, and personal safety merely to secure his own personal beliefs. This is justifiable, but foolish. His actions clearly send him on a path of isolation and rebellion. I’m honestly surprised he bended his will to hold the optics factory job. The main reason I think it was necessary for him was its use as a marker for how he would be unable to advance in the Southern world on his own while still resisting the influence of that system unscathed. This lesson would become paralleled with that of his bending his will in the ‘factory’ and still meeting unfair treatment and cruelty. I think by choosing both paths he was able to reach the conclusion that there was no guarantee of survival and well being under any circumstances in the community in which he lived.