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 stealing a boat, as nobody there was willing to help him, even though the white vendors were clearly not in need of the boat as they were offering to sell it.

Even if he technically has equal rights, Wright proves that in the South, people will treat you worse just based on your skin tone, essentially nullifying any legal protections. This same theme appears many other times throughout the novel, such as forcing all of the black men to work on the levee as unpaid, forced labor, drawing analogies to slavery. In turn, the white men get to watch them work and order them around, further solidifying the comparison. However, I think there is a more striking example. After stealing a boat, shooting the owner, and fighting to find the hospital, it turns out to be for nothing, as Mann’s wife dies in childbirth, killing both herself and the child she was carrying, and he receives no sympathy. The doctor says nothing, just giving the diagnosis, but worse are the nurses, calling him a “poor n-word” and even giggling right at him, showing no sympathy for someone who just lost his wife and child.

Mann's wife in the hospital

However, this novel is not all negative. There are still examples of white folks treating Mann like an actual person or equal, rather than just subservient or less worthy. When Mann returns to the hospital after having seen the levee break, he is assigned a new task of breaking apart the ceiling. Together with Brinkley and the Colonel, they manage to get through the roof and evacuate the people from the hospital. Even still, the people he leads to the exit, which he made for them specifically, still call him the n-word and refer to him condescendingly as boy, still showing the general opinion towards African Americans. Only just as he is about to leave, having finished his work at the hospital, does the colonel come up to him and thank him for his work. 

“ You did well! I won't forget you! If you get out of this, come and see me, hear?”

He even trusts him enough to assign him another task, to free a woman with two children (the wife and kids of the man he killed, although he does not know at the time). 

This scene shows that equality is not only possible, but quite simple. Faced with a common task, both the white and black people worked to save the lives of many. It did not take any special effort, just generally treating others with respect, irrespective of skin color. Wright attempts to shine a more positive light on what might otherwise be a very sad story, even if it is only temporary.

Finally, I think Wright is attempting to make a point about racism with his inclusion of Naturalism, namely how segregation takes away people’s autonomy, compelling you to act or behave in a specific manner that you would not normally. This is visible in how Mann cannot bring himself to kill the white family underneath the house, even if it is his way of rebellion against the oppressive society, and instead his body moves against his own will, rescuing the very people who would put him to death later on. It is this Naturalism that prevents him from pulling out the gun during his interrogation, and again, instead of going down fighting, he dies with just a whimper, shot while trying to run away. Naturalism in essence is the same as determinism, an idea that your actions are pre-destined, and there is nothing you can do to fight it. It is my belief that Wright ties together Jim Crow with naturalism, that under this oppressive system, it is impossible to fight back, no matter how you try.

Mann laying dead, down by the riverside