Naturalism, Jim Crow, and Down by the Riverside
This blog post will attempt to tackle the 3rd prompt, regarding the civil rights movement. It will relate passages from Richard Wright’s “Down By the Riverside” with a movement that opposed the racial segregation of the Jim Crow south. Also, I will try at the end to tie in naturalism, and how it too can relate to the point that Richard Wright is attempting to make (no promises though). Just from the beginning, it is clear that Mann and his family live in a segregated, non-equal society. As the flood comes, Mann refuses the government aid, attempting to instead weather the storm so he can beat everyone back, growing more crops in the process. But when the storm does actually come, and he does truly need a boat, he is not treated fairly or even humanely by the white population. When Bob went to sell the mule, he was taken advantage of, knowing that he could not afford to not sell the mule, only earning $15 for a boat that would cost upwards of $40. It instead forced his hand into s...
