Uncle Tom's Children: Novellas

I have always loved these writers from this era. Of course, my favorite has been James Baldwin, but Richard Wright has redeemed himself with all those in this era. This is not the best work from Richard but again he is able to tell our true stories through these short stories. He writes of our pain, frustration, agony and despair as we try to navigate our place in the world at these troubled times. I was amazed that this work from 1940 is still in print and good condition. It is a test that good things always survive. The last short story in this series, "Bright and Morning Star" was a little odd and not one that resonated with many black Americans because it touches on Blacks involvement in the Communist Party and his affair with a white woman. These are subject which Mirrors Richard's personal lives but there were very few blacks engaged in the Communist party. The ending of this short saga was a tad unreal but still another great work by Richard.

Perhaps nothing was more appropriate about this restored text than placing "The Ethics of Jim Crow" in its rightful place at the front of this short story collection. Richard Wright used the brief autobiographical essay as a device to state that the short stories included in this set are not far from the truth. The racism during his time period was brutal. These short stories are meant to be emblematic of the brutality of the period. The set begins with the short story "Big Boy Leaves Home". To many readers, this may seem to resemble "Native Son" and could be thought of as an early draft. The story finds an African-American adolescent forced to leave home in order to save his life after a local white man is killed at the river. "Down by the Riverside" takes place during a flood. To save his pregnant wife, who has taken ill, the main character steals a boat. This story may be the most compelling in the set because of a choice the main character is forced to make. To honestly decide what he/she might do under the circumstances, the reader must look deep into his/her soul. "Long Black Song" explores the sexual exploitation that African-American endured during this period. Like so many other characters in Wright's stories, one senses that the main character is trapped in a situation in which she is destined to fail. As the story progresses, the greed of exploiters puts even more people in "no win" situations. "Fire and Cloud" and "Bright Morning Star" show Wright to be far from timid in his leftist leanings. The first story involves a community choice, while the second is more of an individual choice. Because the plots of these short stories follow a similar path to failure, Wright hardly seems to be endorsing communism. Each of these stories is raw in its unfliching ability to tell an honest story. Wright does not shy away from uncomfortable details. With a general sense of hopelessness that extends to a point where the reader must know the main character will fail, the reader may find himself/herself too engrossed in the details to flinch.

The book came quickly and was in the promised shape. Will definitely but from this seller in the future.

If white people today have any doubts of the harsh treatment of blacks in the 1900's, read this book. As a matter of fact, read the first 20 pages. I teach this book to my 10th grade English class and my kids love this book! It is an easy read because the stories are so gripping, and the dialogue is written in the southern vernacular of the time. The main reason why high school students need this book now is because not only are the black students loosing sight of the past and appreciation for the efforts of black people, but the white students are unaware of the greatest crime in American History after slavery, Jim Crow Ethics. The Hispanic students, Asian students, African students, Indian students and countless other students from different parts of the world also need to read literature that enhances their knowledge of the brutal history of Americans.

This 1938 collection of short stories by Richard Wright (1908-1960) was the first book the author had published. Wright had a remarkable talent for description, and he makes the reader feel as if alongside the main characters as the stories play out. These stories detail racial discrimination and oppression in the Deep South during the 1930's. I particularly liked his story about a flood that led to blacks being conscripted at gunpoint to work on the levee (and a tragic shooting that followed), plus his story about a planned hunger march that went against the wishes of the local (racist) government. Each story attacks southern racial injustice in a concise and powerful manner. Two years after this book was published, Wright burst into fame with NATIVE SON, and he followed a few years later with BLACK BOY and THE OUTSIDER. This collection of short stories isn't Wright's best work, but it demonstrates the author's budding talent.

Uncle Tom's Children is probably one of the most brutal books ever written on the topic of racism and racial oppression. The stories sneak their way into the far back of the reader's mind, and forces one to confront the racism latent within oneself. That is by no means a small feat for a book to accomplish, and it makes the reading both painful and powerful, sa well as infinitely rewarding. Personally, I don't recall ever having seen the ugliness of racism so brilliantly treated in any other work of literature, bar none. The addition of the autobiographical sketch and the extra story in some editions of this book is just a bonus, and does not decrease the value or importance of this masterpiece.