Richard Wright's Social and Literary Education Continues As He Matures As a Writer in the North

During the Great Depression Richard Wright				the Midwestern John Reed Clubs. Richard is then
changed several other jobs. For following the Wall				elected as executive secretary of the Chicago
Street crash which ushered in the depression, the				John Reed Club to satisfy both of the feuding
volume of mails dropped, Wright's working hours				factions. He tries to satisfy everybody on top of
were thus cut back considerably before he finally				trying to keep Left Front published, though the
lost his postal job. He then began work, in 1930,				Communist Party members saw the publication as
on a novel, Cesspool, about black life in Chicago				useless. He organizes a successful lecture series
that was published posthumously as Lawd Today!				which allows him to meet a variety of intellectuals.
reflecting his experience in the post office.				He goes on even to give a lecture at an open
In 1931 Wright published a short story,				forum on "The Literature of the Negro."
"Superstition," in Abbott's Monthly Magazine, a				The power struggle within the John Reed Club led
black journal. But unfortunately the journal fails				to the dissolution of the club's leadership. Wright
before Wright collects any money from them. He				was assured of the support of the club's party
was also given the opportunity to write through				members if he was willing to join the party.
the Federal Writers' Project. so that by the time				Richard loses some of his cynicism and gains a
he moved to New York City, he had written				little hope that the black community can unite to
most of the novel Lawd Today, which was				overcome their obstacles. His hope becomes
published posthumously in 1963.				manifested in his involvement with the Communist
Christmas comes and Richard works at the post				Party which he now joins having been impressed
office temporarily, where he again talks to his				by their opposition to racial discrimination. He also
Irish friend about current events.				got disabused of his expectation that life in the
When his postal job ends he digs ditches at the				North could be lived with dignity. Richard believes
Cook County Forest Preserves after which he				that he can single-handedly unify the political and
gets employed in a medical research institute at				cultural needs of black society through his words.
one of the largest and wealthiest hospitals in				Richard is fully entrenched in the Communist
Chicago, The Michael Reese Hospital. There he is				Party, strengthened by the idea that he will be
responsible for caring for the animals used in				able to humanize the goals of the Communist
medical research. He is immediately struck by the				movement by injecting their cause with black
racial division set by the hospital authorities. Along				culture. He became a member of the Communist
with three other black men, Richard is restricted				Party and published poetry and short stories in
to the basement corridors so as not to allow				many of their magazines such as Left Front and
them to mingle with the white workers. He cleans				Anvil.
the operating rooms and the animal cages.				One day, a young Jewish man who introduces
Richard is shocked at the extremely simple and				himself as Comrade Young attends one of the
brutalized mind of Bill, a boy of his age, with				Chicago meetings, stating that he has just moved
whom he, worked and who was usually sleepy or				from Detroit. Being without money, Young asks
drunk.. Unlike the others, including two Brand and				Richard if he can use the John Reed Club
Cooke who had been employed at the institute				headquarters for lodging. Thinking that Young is
for a longer period of time, Richard takes an				sincere and loyal, Richard agrees. He wins the
interest in what the doctors are doing. One day,				trust of the elder members. Young impresses the
one of the doctors leaves a bottle of Nembutal -				best painters in the club with his artwork and
an anesthetic - out. Out of his usual curiosity,				becomes admired by all. Richard tries to contact
Richard opens the bottle and smells it. Brand				the Detroit chapter to ask for information of
pretends that the Nembutal is poisonous and				Young, but gets no reply. At one meeting, Young
scares Richard by telling him to run or he'll fall				accuses Swann - one of the club's best young
dead.				artists- of being a Trotskyite traitor to the
Once, the authorities sent a young Jewish boy to				workers. Chaos and verbal battles ensue within
time Richard as he cleans a room. After timing				the club.
him, the boys calculate how long it will take				Then Comrade Young disappears mysteriously.
Richard to clean all the rooms and five flights of				One afternoon, Richard and Comrade Grimm
steps. From then on, Richard begins to feel like a				search the luggage that Young had left behind at
slave,always trying to work against time.				the club and find a Detroit address, to which
At the hospital, Brand and Cooke do nothing but				Richard writes and asks for him. A few days
feud with each other. One day, the two begin to				later, he receives a reply from a mental institution
argue over what year has the last coldest day in				saying that Young had previously escaped but
Chicago. Cooke pulls a long knife from his pocket				was apprehended and back in custody. All charges
and Brand seizes an ice pick to defend himself. A				against Swann were then dropped and Richard,
physical battle then ensues between them.				along with some other trusted members of the
Although no one is hurt, the animal cages topple				club, kept the information about Young a secret
over, letting dogs, mice, guinea pigs and rats run				from the others.
loose everywhere. The four black workers spend				Meanwhile, the Party decides to disband the John
the rest of their lunch break trying to sort the				Reed Clubs. At the national meeting in New York,
animals out, randomly placing mice and rats in				to discuss dissolving the clubs, Richard is unable to
their cages, not knowing whether they were the				find a room to stay in because he is black.
cancerous rats or the ones injected with				Now a full-fledged member of the Communist
tuberculosis. None of the doctors notice anything				Party, Richard attends a secret unit - the party's
wrong and neither of the workers tells the				basic form of organization - meeting and proposes
director about the disaster. Richard notes that				his idea to humanize the Communist Party to the
because of the way in which the black workers				common black man, by his writing a book of
are treated, they have learnt to form their own				biographical sketches for which. he interviews a
code of ethics, values, and loyalty.				member named Ross. Ross, however, has been
Meanwhile, the depression grows worse and				charged with inciting to riot and is also accused
Richard is forced to move his family into a small				later of being a traitor. Higher-ranking members,
dingy rented apartment. There one morning, his				such as Ed Green and Buddy Nealson, begin to
mother tells him there is no food for breakfast,				suspect Richard of the same crimes. Richard soon
and he must go to the Cook County Bureau of				becomes disillusioned with the Party's goals, and
Public Welfare to beg for bread. At the welfare				tries to sever all relations with it. He is invited
station, Richard is embarrassed at first, but				back to witness Ross's trial for his crimes, where
becomes aware of the bonding experience				Ross breaks down into tears and begs for the
happening around him with: individuals sharing their				Party's forgiveness. Richard is disgusted with the
experiences, thus unifying themselves. He leaves				political organization and decides that the only way
the relief station with a new kind of hope: the				to reach the common man and evoke a reaction
possibility that a new understanding of life could				from society is through his writing. The members,
be given to those he had met there. Richard				despite Richard's background, label him an
sheds some of his cynicism with a desire to				"intellectual" because of his proper speech and
understand the common black man.				dress. Richard also learns that the unit does not
Richard and his family are still plagued by hunger.				approve of him reading materials outside of Party
With the depression in full swing, hunger plagues				literature, claiming that other literatures are
the entire community as well. But for Richard, the				bourgeois, and not for the masses. Richard begins
hunger again manifests itself in a hunger for				to fear their militant ignorance. Richard had joined
knowledge, not just food. In the medical institute,				the party because he considered them as blind to
Richard longs for the education that he sees other				race, but he is shocked to realize that they are
white young men receiving. But his questions are				biased against those favored by other
ignored with the doctor even scaring him off				socioeconomic factors, such as education. Wright,
learning by telling him that his "brains might				is astounded that they can label someone who
explode" should he "know too much." Even in				has grown up in poverty as he has as bourgeois.
Chicago, he is still being denied access to				Their ignorance toward Richard's background
education.				serves to isolate him from the party and the
Richard also begins to sense that he is not alone				Communist vision.
in his loneliness and poverty. At the relief station,				Richard begins to interview Ross, a communist
he begins to see that there is an entire society				who had been charged with "inciting to riot," for
that has been rejected by society itself like him.				his biographical book. But he begins to receive
There is strength in numbers, Richard begins to				threats from party leaders with messages such
realize. This he realizes when the black workers				as: "Intellectuals don't fit well into the party,
are trying to fix the mess they have made in the				Wright." One morning in Ross's home, a black
medical institute; Richard realizes that within the				Communist named Ed Green arrives and begins
black community - among his fellow workers -				to question him. Richard. Green is a member of
there existed a separate moral code.				the Party's Central Committee - a man with
One Thursday night, Richard is invited to join a				power - and is suspicious of Richard's work. As
group of white boys whom he had met at the				days pass, Ross begins to speak less and less to
post office to talk about politics, argue, eat and				Richard. Soon afterwards, Ross is charged with
drink. Many of the boys have joined the				anti-leadership tendencies.
Communist Party. Then one named Sol announces				Richard' now begins to view their propaganda and
that one of his short stories is going to be				tactics as embellished lies and impossible promises.
published in a Communist journal. Sol, a member				He compares the Communist speaker and the
of the John Reed Club - a Communist literary				black preacher which suggests that, like the
organization -tries to convince Richard to attend				church, Communism is nothing but blind faith. He
one of their meetings. Richard is doubtful whether				blatantly questions the success of the Communist
the Communist Party has any sincere interest in				Party, asking if "the Negros could possibly cast off
the black community, but finally attends one of				his fear and corruption and rise to the task." By
their meetings to ease boredom. He is given a				the word "task," Wright means overcoming racial
handful of Communist magazines and encouraged				oppression and achieving unity.
to participate in Left Front, one of their journals.				Richard drops his idea of making a book of
Richard decides that he will try to humanize				biographical sketches and instead, uses his material
Communism to the common man through his				from Ross to write short stories. As he begins to
writing, and composes a few verses that are				find a literary voice and ideological affinity in the
accepted by some of the Communist publications.				leftist political ferment of the 1930's, he started
Richard attends more of the meetings, and				writing and publishing widely. He wrote stories,
realizes that the club has factional disputes				articles and poems for the Daily Worker, New
between its members. The disputes are between				Masses, Midland Left, Anvil and Partisan Review. In
the writers (those mainly in charge of Left Front)				April 1931 he published his first major story
and the painters.				"Superstition" in Abbot's Monthly. "Big Boy Leaves
Welcomed and encouraged by the almost entirely				Home." telling about the shocking end of the
white membership, Wright begins to read and				childhood of a young black boy was first published
study New Masses and International Literature,				in The New Caravan and greeted as the best
the organ of the International League of				piece in the anthology in the mainstream
Revolutionary Writers. He writes and submits the				newspapers and journals. He enjoys literary and
revolutionary poems "I Have Seen Black Hands."				social friendships with Bill Jordan, Abraham
"A Red Love Note" to Left Front the magazine of				Chapman, Howard Nutty and Jane Newton.

VirtAssist

Richard Wright's Social and Literary Education Continues As He Matures As a Writer in the North