Literary Devices In Richard Wright's Big Black Good Man

In the short story Big Black Good Man, Richard Wright uses several literary devices, although the most apparent devices are character, point of view and an underlying theme. The literary devices that Richard Wright employs allow the reader to sense that the characters point of view and choice of setting represent the contrast and character development throughout the story and in the end, represents the idea that external differences do not always match internal intentions.

The authors choice of characters in this story presents an interesting situation, the hero a poor elderly white man named Olaf who works as the night porter for a hotel in Denmark is a brilliant contrast to the antagonist, a rather wealthy large black sailor named Jim.
One point where this becomes apparent is in Olaf's bloody dreams of Jim being drowned and eaten by "a shark, a white one." The only reprehension Olaf felt about his dreams came when he imagines the "many innocent people, women and children, all white and blonde" would die as well as Jim when his ship sank. Not only does Olaf care more about the lives of white people than the lives of black people, he views Jim as something less than human because of his
Jim was completely comfortable with Olaf because he does not feel threatened by him whatsoever. Olaf's age and size comparatively he simply could not match up to this hulking sailor who seemed to be much better off than him. The way that Jim was comfortable with Olaf only made the fear and hate that Olaf felt towards Jim grow. The way that Jim referred to Olaf as "boy" as though he had no respect for him other than as the hotel manager infuriated him and yet there was nothing that he could do for Jim was the superior