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Socialism and Identity in the Life and Works of Richard Wright*

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Socialism and Identity in the Life and Works of Richard Wright* Socialism and Identity in the Life and Works of Richard Wright* Fecha de recepción: 18 de junio de 2014 Fecha de aprobación: 21 de noviembre de 2014 Abstract Richard Wright was a pioneer in American Literature whose Juan D. Gómez relationship with socialism helped to define him as a person and Universidad de Antioquia as a writer. The inspiration behind his literary accomplishments [email protected] and their impact on his contemporaries can be understood by tracing two of the most important themes in his life; socialism Docente Instituto de Filosofía, Uni- and identity. This article describes the evolution of his relationship versidad de Antioquia. Miembro with socialism in order to better understand the writer and his best del Grupo de Filosofía y Literatura. known works in their social and political context. This exercise Miembro de la Modern Language As- sociation. can also help us to gain a clearer understanding of the cultural and social implications of socialist ideology in the United States after the First World War. Key words: Richard Wright, communism, racism, politics, socialism * Artículo de reflexión auspiciado por el Instituto de Filosofía de la Universidad de Antio- quia y hace parte de la producción del Grupo de Filosofía y Literatura. Citar: Gómez, J.D. (julio-diciembre de 2015). Socialism and identity in the life and works of Richard Wright. La palabra, (27), 33 - 43. 33 la palabra No. 27 Tunja, julio - diciembre de 2015, ISSN 0121-8530 pp. 33-43 Socialismo e identidad en la vida y obra de Richard Wright Resumen Richard Wright fue un pionero en la literatura americana cuya relación con el socialismo ayudo a definirlo como persona y como escritor. La inspiración detrás de sus logros literarios y su impacto en sus contemporáneos pueden ser entendidos mediante el trazado de dos de los temas más importantes de su vida; el socialismo y la identidad. En este artículo se describe la evolución de su relación con el socialismo, a fin de comprender mejor al escritor y sus obras más conocidas en su contexto social y político. Este ejercicio también puede ayudar a obtener una comprensión más clara de las implicaciones culturales y sociales de la ideología socialista en los Estados Unidos después de la Primera Guerra Mundial. Palabras Claves: Richard Wright, comunismo, racismo, política, socialismo Socialisme et identité dans la vie et l’œuvre de Richard Wright Résumé: Richard Wright fut un pionnier de la littérature américaine. Son rapport avec le socialisme a été essentiel dans son parcours personnel et littéraire. L’inspiration, source de ses réussites littéraires et l’impact qu’il a eu sur ses contemporains, peuvent être compris à la lumière de deux thèmes ayant été importants pour lui : le socialisme et l’identité. L’article met en perspective l’évolution de son rapport au socialisme pour mieux cerner l’écrivain et ses œuvres majeures inscrites dans un contexte socio-politique précis. Cet exercice permet de mieux comprendre les influences socio-culturelles du socialisme aux États-Unis après la Première Guerre Mondiale. Mots clés: Richard Wright, communisme, racisme, politique, socialisme la palabra No. 27 tunja, Julio - Diciembre de 2015, ISSN 0121-8530 pp. 33-43 34 Socialism and identity in the life and works of Richard Wright Juan D. Gómez identity known and of incor- that these black men were porating himself into the larger dupes who naively thought of The life and works of Richard whole. themselves as practicing a kind Wright provide a unique view of of magic and hoped that if “… the important role that socialist He had unpropitious begin- they acted like the men who ideology played in the life of nings, and seemed destined to a overthrew the Czar, then surely many African Americans before life of anonymity similar to that they ought to win their freedom the Second World War. Through of Richard Vincent. Wright was in America” (Wright, 1983, pp. his short stories, novels, and born on September 4, 1908, on 37-38). poems, which are in many ways Rucker’s plantation, some twen- an extension of the author’s ty miles outside of Natchez, Like many others in Chicago struggles and evolving beliefs, Mississippi. When he was five, during the Depression, Wright Wright works through many his family moved to Memphis survived through a combination of the hopes and challenges and his father abandoned them. of sporadic employment and that came with seeing socialist When Richard was eleven, his public assistance. For a time, he ideology as a possible ally in the mother suffered a paralyzing worked in a post office where quest for racial equality in the stroke and the family was bro- he befriended white men who United States. ken up. Wright moved in with introduced him to the John Reed his illiterate and devout grand- Club, a national communist The search for identity mother who interpreted his organization that sought to In a nation devoted to the prop- restless mind and independent recruit writers and intellectuals. osition of promoting and recog- spirit as signs of spiritual per- Wright was skeptical about nizing autonomous individuals, dition and saw it as her duty white/communist interest in Richard Wright’s family could to return him to the fold. She black welfare but he was won trace their pursuit of this ideal set about doing this by restrict- over and eventually became one back to the American Civil War. ing his access to books and the of the converted. He quickly When a Union soldier named outside world (Rowley, 2001, p. rose through the ranks from Richard Wilson went through 10). recruit to executive secretary the discharge process at the end of the Chicago chapter and, At the age of 19, in search of for the first time in his life, of the Civil War, his name was opportunities that would allow entered into the veteran’s reg- found himself surrounded by him to define himself, he moved like-minded individuals that istry as Richard Vincent. Wil- to Chicago. He was surprised son, who was Richard Wright’s valued him for his ideas and by the absence of Jim Crow imagination. maternal grandfather, spent the restrictions there and heartened rest of his life trying to convince by the possibility of living his the government that he had The club provided an ideology life without the fear of lynching. that opposed his grandmother’s fought in the war and, more It was in there where he had his importantly, that he existed and benighted mysticism and a first contact with communists. movement that engaged in an deserved the same government He saw their marches, and pension to which other veterans organized search for the truth sometimes he witnessed black in the lives of the oppressed were entitled. Throughout his men among them, parading and life and in his works of fiction and isolated (Gayle, 1980, p. mimicking the mannerisms of 68). Here, at last, he had found Wright was involved in a simi- white communists. Wright was lar struggle- that of making his what he needed: an identity unimpressed and concluded beyond the procrustean norms 35 la palabra No. 27 Tunja, julio - diciembre de 2015, ISSN 0121-8530 pp. 33-43 that white society imposed and personal as any religion. Like in 1938. In this collection, we a means to challenge them. Six the Christianity practiced find Wright’s first complete years later, when the Soviet-Nazi by his enslaved ancestors, its artistic engagement with the pact caused many to abandon form of practice changed but possibilities and tensions that the party, Wright remained. he never abandoned the ideal existed between race, socialism, He explained his position by because the cause was essential religion, and collective identity. saying, “Communism is for me to who he was. This remained He hoped to exploit these a way of life, a spectacle of life, true even when those who possibilities and resolve the an unusual mode of existence, introduced him to it, and those tensions that emerged from an intense drama … millions, who claimed sole representation them lest they undermine black regardless of the tactics of the of it, would turn oppressive and unity and his own fragile and U.S.S.R stand firm,for there is tyrannical. developing sense of self1. nothing to go back to” (Gayle, 1980, p. 123; emphasis added). The works that WrightThe possibilities and risks can published during this time, be seen in all of the stories It was during his John Reed poems like “A Red Love in UTC whose protagonists membership that Wright’s Note”, and “I Have Seen Black engage in varying degrees long harbored feelings of Hands” voice his hope that of rebellion and collective indignation, frustration, and the Party would provide the resistance. This resistance is hope for a better future founded organizational structure that sometimes organized around on reason and justice were could bring blacks together the black church and, to a transformed into social activism, and thrust them into an active lesser extent, the Communist artistic production, and socialist role in the political, economic, Party. The first three stories militancy. Socialism gave him a and social life of the country. carry a warning to the enemy collective identity. It allowed his At the same time, poems like (read, capitalists and racists) by isolated suffering to be projected “Between the World and Me”, a highlighting some of the violent onto a global stage where his disturbingly vivid description of possibilities inherent in all individual tale became one a lynching, remind the reader of abusive relationships and warn with that of millions of others; the barbaric violence that whites blacks about the ineffectiveness their plight became part of were allowed to inflict on blacks of pursuing individual actions.
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