Morality

Wright really learns morality from himself. He seems to have a set of morals from the time he is born, influenced in part by his mother, as exemplified by her reaction to the murder of the cat. In a way she tries to educate him in religious morals, but the main portion of his morality comes from himself, and from his reactions to the world around him. Wright learns not to steal when he steals and feels the shame of that action boil up inside him. He learns about the morality of information when he refuses to give a speech that was written for him. Finally, he learns about the morality of the world around him when he sees the blatantly amoral actions of his comrades at the end of the book. The relation between his own moral journey and that of the common schools exist in the tie between literature and morality. The public schools taught morality, conveyed morality, through scripture. Wright does not read the bible in the book, but he learns of the world and his place in it through reading, and attempts to spread his morals and in essence his world view through the written word, as the common schools initially did with the bible.

Epiphany

Basicallly, Wright realizes at the end of the novel that Americans are not human. The issue does not come down to political hatred or religious hatred or even racial hatred, but to the fact that throughout his experience in America he has seen no examples of how to live a human life. He realizes that it not just the blacks that are being crushed and dehumanized in their suffering, but that everybody, white or black, is circling the same pit of despair for the simple reason that their humanity is not whole, their connection to the rest of the world not quite whole. Everyone is going down together, and there is no way to stop it. However, Wright must try to make some connection, to bring light onto the human heart and a human path of existence. He must attempt to "fling a spark into this darkness." Because Wright now realizes he is alone. Not because he is isolated from his political party or from a majority of people because of racial dynamics, but because no one is living their lives how they should, because no one is searching for the essence of the human heart like he is. He is alone because he is one of a kind and there is no one else trying to search for the meaning he must find. Because of his isolation, he must now let go of his dreams of using writing to unite man, and must instead try to bridge the gap between himself and the rest of the world, unite his own version of reality with that of the rest of humanity.

Artists vs. Politicians

At this point, I would like to quote (the movie) V for Vendetta. "Artists use lies to expose the truth, while politicians use lies to cover up the truth." In this light, as well as in the way Wright brings to the fore, politicians and artists really do use different abilities and methods to accomplish different goals. Art is about intensifying life, using a great focus on one topic to bring about a new world view or at least an appreciation of a new world view. The politician does the opposite, keeping foci broad, making generalizations and refusing to look at the specific, for, really, what good can the specific do him? Politicians have no real goal in convincing one voter, or in mobilizing one mob member. They need to convince or mobilize great swarms of people, and to do this he must break life into its impersonal aspects, forcing men into large groupings with other men who are not like them in order to accomplish its goals. The artist seeks to remind man he is an individual, with valuable thoughts and actions, while the politician seeks to dehumanize man, turn him into a machine, a number, a voter, a faceless mob member. In observing what they do to the people who follow them, it is clear that an artist and a politician are clearly two very different types of people.

This impetus brought to you by...

To be honest, it depends greatly, on both the voice and the masses he is trying to force into motion. There have been men and women in our history, who, through their skills in oration, or their intelligence, or their eloquence, have caused huge changes in the world with just their voice. Martin Luther King jr. could be considered a great example of this. Because his message was one of power, and because of the great leadership abilities he possessed, MLK jr. was able to move mountains with just the strength 0f his voice. And yet, his power and influence also greatly rested on his audience. The people he moved were people receptive to his claims, tired of one thing or many and ready to do something about it. In essence, one man cannot make an explosion: he can only light a fuse. There must be power, controversy, potential for change already inherent in his audience for his words to have any effect. If MLK spoke only to white individuals, or if the issues he attacked had not occurred, then he would have had zero followers no matter how gifted of a leader. Where the two elements combine- the powder keg and the person capable of lighting the fuse -  only there can an explosion occur.

Parenthetical Passages

Besides the brilliant alliteration in my title, what more do you want to know? Well, the first time in this chapter where current Wright breaks in to talk about past Wright, he discusses the continued issue of racial tension that I suppose he had hoped to avoid by coming to the north. Instead of an active, tangible tension that broke out into violence or confrontation, the tension in the north is mainly in the psyche, breaking a man down from the inside. One of the main concepts present Wright discusses in his tale of the north is the concept of self-hate. Because the whites hate the blacks and because they are a part of this culture that hates them, they begin to hate themselves. They enter into a vicious cycle where they hate themselves because the whites hate them, but refuse to show their self-loathing for fear of allowing the whites satisfaction. Because of these contrasting pressures, blacks are tense and nervous, only further satisfying the stereotypes whites have of them. Wright himself is not immune from this vicious cycle, but engages in dreams that are never realized, and hopes of organizing the blacks that eventually lead to displacement of his disappointment and self-hate on the blacks around him.

Positive/Negative Change

At the end of Part 1 Wright is setting in motion his move to the north. There are plans, dreams, and insinuations that the change will be positive, but we the reader do not yet know where Wright's path will take him. Indeed, some of the comments of the white men Wright was working with seemed foreboding, and in a novel I would likely assume that this was purposeful. They suggest that the north isn't all it's cracked up to be, and that he will be unhappy there. However, we do not yet know if the white men have some insight Wright lacks or if they are merely defending their southern lifestyle or even just trying to keep a worker. Regardless, the north will likely be a step up in quality of life for Wright, but may not live up to all of his expectations, perhaps becoming a negative change just because he will have reached the fabled land of milk and honey and found it only slightly better than the desert. Even worse, the promised land was his destination and he will have few other options to seek out a life better than the one in the north. Whether this move will break his dream or the conditions will be improved enough to at least temporarily sate his hunger for equality is something, I suppose, that remains to be seen.

Subservience

In a word, yes. But I'm sure you want more. Every one in society is forced to be subservient in order to exist in that society. The levels to which each of us bend to stay within that system differ, but none of us can stand completely upright. Those who try die, as evidenced by Chris McCandless. He tried to live outside of the system, and was happy for a spell, but eventually everyone dies if they remain above the system. To survive, each of us must give up some of who we are. If I was utterly free I could steal or kill as I chose, essentially destroying the freedoms of others. To preserve the majority of the freedoms everyone enjoys each of must give some of our individual freedoms, which is subservience to the system, or to the greater good, depending on your viewpoint. However, no one today has to face the level of subservience Wright was forced to endure in the south. He has to control every impulse, hide every thought, nearly literally bow to the whites around him. When he tries to break out of this harsh system he is beaten, or cast out of a job. In order for Wright to survive even on a day-to-day basis he must be so subservient as to lose some of himself.

Late to the game

All around him, Wright observes a nearly Pavlovian response to whites in the blacks he coexists with. When a white appears, blacks shrink back, and in some cases jump out of the way. They lose their individuality and become robots, always offering a yessir and a quick jump to the task at hand. They are just as human as Wright, but have been deeply conditioned into this response through fear and pressure from a very young age. However, because when he was young Wright was unexposed to and even unaware of the issue of race, he never received that conditioning. As Mann wrote, the young are pliable, and by the time Wright experienced white supremacy he had already allowed himself expectations of self-respect and individuality, huge mistakes in the eyes of the whites. This unwillingness and even inability to conceal himself, to become just another black man with downcast eyes leads to much of the suffering Wright experiences. When he refuses to accept white mistreatment of black women he is nearly shot by a security officer. He consistently loses jobs when his pride refuses to let him be subjugated. Even when he wants to bow to the will of the whites he is unable to conform. Wright is late to the game and so can never be a natural or even very good player.

Speech Giving

In chapter 8, Wright graduates valedictorian of his class, and is asked to write a speech to give to his classmates and assembled people that are white and black. However, the principal has pre-written his speech so that it does not offend whites (presumably) and demands Wright read his prearranged speech. Wright refuses, and is perfectly justified in doing so. Throughout his life Wright is unable or unwilling to bend to authority just because it is authority. He will do what is right even if those in power are trying to force him to do the opposite. Wright is so committed to his code of morals and ethics that he would rather give up his diploma and his graduation than say a speech he had not written. In a way, he is being stupid. He will find it harder to get a job and the principal could have prevented him from graduating, and the only reward for these great risks was the right to say a speech that probably means little to those hearing it anyway. However, Wright is showing backbone in the face of adversity, an unwillingness to bend to the sterotypes and limits of his socioeconomic class when everyone around him is giving up and living under the boot of the system. Wright is standing up when everyone else is lying down.

Uncle Tom

Is it just me, or is oddly suspicious that our young black boy trying to break out of racial stereotypes and boundaries has an uncle Tom? Anyway, Wright is so furious with his uncle because the man is trying to interfere with Wright's way of life without having any say in it. Wright accepted the beatings of his parents because they were responsible for him, and (to a lesser degree) the beatings of his grandmother for similar reasons. What rankles him greatly about his uncle, and his aunt as well, is that they have no real stake in his life, no responsibility for his life, and give no aid to his life, and yet expect to run his life. This so fundamentally goes against Wright's views of himself and of his nuclear family that he has no choice but to fight back. Another reason that Wright is so frustrated with the incident in this chapter is that his uncle seems to be merely  finding a pretext to beat him rather than actually having a reason. Wright is not being disrespectful (although I am not sure, not hearing his tone of voice), and yet his uncle takes offense and decides to beat him. Illogical beatings are not beating Wright believes he has to take lying down.