Big Black Good Man

Big Black Good Man Big Black Good Man by Richard Wright shows that during the civil rights movement whites decriminated against blacks. And as a big supporter of civil rights, Richard Wright authored a different look on how people were treated back then. By definition, discrmination means the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things. And when you think of descrimination you would think of a white person having control of minorities or coloreds. But in this story it is the complete opposite, the black male has complete control over the white man. But during this story the minority makes the white feel scared and nervous of him. In the story when Olaf first sees Jim he is immediatley frightened and nervous as to why such a big man is in his hotel. And this is apparent in the way Olaf talks about Jim and how he describes how big of a man Jim is. Contrary to many peoples beliefs, this story does show how a white man thought during that time. For example, the first thing that Olaf thought when he saw Jim was that he was no good and looked like trouble. Not knowing that Jim wanted no harm Olaf jumped to the conclusion that he was just like every other African American during that time. Jim is a big man, as described by Olaf, he could very well intimidate any person, much less a small white man. So when Jim first walks into the hotel Olaf is immediatley nervous as to why a man like this is in his hotel. When Jim walks right up to the desk this is the moment where you can tell just how whites feel about blacks. Sitting next to Olaf is a loaded shotgun, and as soon as Jim tries to say something to Olaf, Olaf reaches over for the gun. And in that split second you can see just how scared Olaf really was. Something held him up from shooting Jim right on the spot. But, in the this story the discrimination isnt actually seen at all; but rather in the thoughts that go through Olafs mind. For example when he sees Jim he wants to

Cited: "Richard Wright 's "Big Black Good Man:" Olaf 's Misconceptions of His Thoughts." HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. "Richard Wright 's "Big Black Good Man"." Richard Wright 's "Big Black Good Man". N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013.