Richard Wright once said, “Goddammit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s just like living in jail.” Wright (1908-1960) was an author and short-story writer, who was one of the leaders of African American authors to challenge the way whites treated blacks. “Big Black Good Man”, is a short story that was written by Richard Wright in 1957. It was published in a collection called the “Eight Men.” Every one of the eight stories in Eight Men centers around a black man at rough chances with a white world, mirroring Wright's perspectives about bigotry in our general public and his interest with “exploring the moral devastation wrought by a racist society.” The Big Black Good Man has many different themes that involve misconception, prejudice, and black vs white.
The short story is set in Copenhagen, Denmark. “August night, drumming softly upon the pavements of Copenhagen.” (1). That is an interesting fact because around the time of 1950’s many equal rights were being passed and school were beginning to be unsegregated in America. Although Denmark did not have many blacks around, a few blacks that were around described the Danish people as friendly. I feel the author pointed out that specific setting to say regardless of how things may seem, wherever you go racism was still an important topic. “And I could’ve taught ‘em languages…English, French, German…” (3). Olaf, one of the main characters that appeared as a man who was content with his life. He did not have much to complain about because his situation was not the worst possible. He was a man that enjoyed traveling and wish he had kids to share his knowledge with. He also stated “those ten years in New York were fun…Maybe I could’ve got rich if I’d stayed in America.” (4). This helped him as a character appeal as a well rounded older man and would lead the reader to assume he had been around many different ethnic groups.
Apart from Olaf being this knowledgeable man that has been all over the world, he referred to Jim as the “biggest, strangest, and blackest man he’d ever seen in his life.” (16). All through the story, Olaf never truly alludes to Jim by his name, denying Jim a genuine character. Olaf did not see Jim as human because he was “Too big, too black, too loud, too direct.” (23). This remark suggests that Olaf is being prejudice on the grounds that he makes suspicions about Jim before he becomes more acquainted with him. Considering Olaf said he perceived men as men and that he had “eaten and slept and fought with all kinds of men” (23), one would assume he is not racist. However, “he was emotionally determined to refuse a man a room solely on the basis of the man’s size and color.” (25). Olaf mentioned “if only the man were small, brown, and intelligent looking.” (46). This statement is verbally unexpected in light of the fact that Olaf is proposing that if Jim fit this image then he would be a superior individual. Olaf's bigotry is evident in light of the fact that he leans towards little, dark colored men to big black men. Which also shows Olaf has some insecurities within himself.
Olaf's dislike towards Jim turns out to be evident when he brings up death in almost every interaction with Jim. “He could kill me with one hand.” (65). Olaf is insecure about his frail size compared to the “big black man.” Olaf day dreams about the revenge he wants on Jim and while doing so he depicts the color black negatively while the color white as superior. “The ship would sink slowly to the bottom of the cold, black, silent depths of the sea and a shark, a white one, would glide.” (89). He continues on to explain how he felt guilty about the innocent “all white, and blonde” people that would witness. The point of view through out was from a third person, Olaf. Jims thoughts were never vocalized, which gives suspense to the story. However, Jims actions lead as if he trusts Olaf at first sight. “Keep this for me, will you?” (29). The different interpretations and conceptions of the short story makes it ambiguous.
Olaf tries to convey himself as a wise, educated, and balanced man. But instead the plot of the story revealed his true feelings and intentions. Olaf's feelings about big black men is why he is frightened of Jim. This leads Olaf to uncover his actual sentiments towards Jim through the constrained perspective of his character. Richard right once said “Our too-young and too-new America, lusty because it is lonely, aggressive because it is afraid, insists upon seeing the world in terms of good and bad, the holy and the evil, the high and the low, the white and the black; our America is frightened of fact, of history, of processes, of necessity. It hugs the easy way of damning those whom it cannot understand, of excluding those who look different, and it salves its conscience with a self-draped cloak of righteousness.”