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.