Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Changes
Though I don't entirely understand what is referenced to by "the change" that wright sets in motion, I think most of the changes that occur with him are positive. His decision to move to Chicago will (hopefully!) benefit him greatly, because Chicago is now officially out of the south. Though of course there was racism all across America, he hopes that he will not have to live at this level of subservience that he does in the south. Wright also undergoes another change, although I don't believe the second one is quite as drastic as moving to Chicago. After hearing about H.L. Mencken, he begins reading his works- and other works of the famous authors in his time period. Wright is rapidly becoming more knowlegeable about the world around him, and the racism- and the feelings behind it- than the average black person during his time. Therefore he could fight the system from the inside, as a well read, respectable man that has the power to surprise the people around him into thinking that maybe blacks do have a right to be respected. I believe that this is an extremely positive change, although it could potentially get into trouble, because many whites were intimidated by intelligent blacks and were afraid that they would learn the system and fight against it, or to realize their own equality- and therefore often times whites would be extra violent and hateful towards the blacks that truly knew their own identities.
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Tina-
Just like you, I didn’t know for sure what was meant by the “changes” that Wright endured. But I assumed, as did you, that any positives he made at the end of Part 1 were positive. We both picked up upon the importance of Wright and his family finally moving to Chicago to get a better life for them. Any improvement was positive for Wright. Another possible “change” that Wright made was the way in which he left his job at the optical factory. He lied to the owner about the real reason for his moving. He wanted to downplay the racism he experienced as being the true reason for his leaving because he was scared about possible repercussions from the white workers. Richard doesn’t usually lie because it goes against his morals. His lying showed a change that went on within him. I think this was a positive change because, although he didn’t like lying, it was necessary to help him escape the current situation he was in. That makes lying a positive change.
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