Big Black Good Man: Prejudice Essay

The story by Richard Wright Big Black Good Man communicates a prejudice theme which is told through Olaf, the eyes of an old white protagonist. Olaf, who is frightened and insulted by the look of a sailor, is determined to refuse a room solely on the basis of his size and color (303). As humans, many people generally react negatively to people who are different then themselves. Negative impressions of a person can control attitudes and actions, which is reveled in this story by the white porter, which expresses different kinds of prejudice.

The thought that Olaf would deny the black sailor a room, even though the hotel he works at admits everyone and every color (303) shows one action of the prejudice theme expressed in this the story. When the black man asked if there were rooms available, Olaf hesitated to answer because the horror he felt from the mans intense blackness and ungainly bigness (303). The way Olaf felt had emotionally persuade himself to refuse a man a room. Olaf had thought of a couple of ways to tell the black man that there were no free rooms in the hotel, but Olaf couldnt reject the black sailor only because he feared that the man would kill him in a fit of unprovoked rage. As Olaf led the giant of living blackness (304) down the corridor, he had felt beaten and intimated by the color and the size of the black man.

Trying to find a way to decline the sailors request of a bottle of whiskey and a woman, Olaf once again expresses another action of the prejudice theme that is presented. Times before Olaf had been asked to arrange women and whiskey every night from other sailors and students staying in the hotel, but this time Olaf had a strong reluctance (304) to call a women for this man. Olaf even thought about lying and saying none were available (304) because he worried about a woman being alone with this black giant. Olaf ended up sending Lena who was big and strong (305) because he knew Lena could handle that type of man. Olaf warned Lena twice about how big and black (305) the man was but Lena didnt care. Night after night, the black sailor demanded whiskey and Lena from Olaf and night after night, till the black beast had checked out, Olaf stayed worked up and nervous about a nigger and a white whore (305). Even though Olaf obeyed the black sailors request of whiskey and women, prejudice actions show in Olafs worrying about Lena being alone with the black man, and reassuring Lean about how big and how black the man was.

The negative and terrible thoughts Olaf imagined after the black sailor checked out of the hotel, suggest that Olaf really is prejudice. Olaf had envisioned a ship that the black sailor was on would sink slowly down to the deep cold seadrowning the black bastard of a giant (308). During these hateful thoughts about the black man, Olaf starts to feel guilty but only about the innocent peopleall white and blonde (308) that would also be on the sinking ship. Over the months and days, the fantasy of the black man drowning and dying had consumed Olaf as the only revenge he knew (308). Olaf learned to hate the black man, but wasnt sure why he did, which led to prejudice actions towards the one person who was big, black, and different then himself.

Despite Olafs personal belief of not being prejudiced Im not prejudicedNo, not at all (304) the actions of his disapproving impressions of the black sailor simply expresses that Olaf is prejudice. Determined to refuse a room solely on the basis of size and color (303), worried about a woman being alone in the same room with the black sailor, and having hateful fantasies about the black bastard of a giant drowning (308), all show how Olaf reacted negatively to a person who looks different than him. The different races between the two men obviously show how one person can feel normal, but makes the other person feel threatened, which leads to prejudice thoughts and actions.

Works Cited

Wright, Richard. Big Black Good Man. Literature : Reading, Reacting, Writing. 6th ed. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Wadsworth. 2007. 301-310.