Down By the Riverside and A Raisin in the Sun compared through a political and racial lens

 Down By the Riverside andA Raisin in the Sun

compared through a political and racial lens

    In this blog I would like to compare and contrastRichard Wright’ssocialist-driven naturalism in “Down By the Riverside” withLorrain Hansberry’sliberal-influenced realism in A Raisin in the Sun. These classifications towards the two texts are very justified by the way the characters react to their own situations. The political implication of these authors'protest literature has power to convey their actions in the social interactions they face.

    Social constructs of the environment can be viewed as the cause of people's actions. Richard Wright’s socialist-driven naturalism in “Down By the Riverside” has strong political views that show the systemic culture's influence on their actions. Mann, the main character during a statewide flooding, was put in a critical situation where his wife Lulu and his unborn child are at risk. Through a socialist-driven naturalism lens we can view the primitive drive towards his actions. He does not have influence on the world, but the world is what influences him. Mann is forced to kill a white man to save himself and his family. Though Mann saved many people and did humane work for his community in these troubling times. Mann is eventually caught. This “sinful” action was placed upon him; he was but the object of socialist-driven naturalism that influenced his path.

    Lorrain Hansberry’s liberal-influenced realism in A Raisin in the Sun has a malleable display of the family's influence. In a Raisin in the Sun the family gets inheritance money and is able to choose how they spend it. This liberal-influenced realism is represented through the family's decisions. The family buys a house but is faced with racist backlash from the house's all white community. The HOA sends a white man to offer to buy the house off them so the family would not have any trouble. This implies that the family would receive lots of hate and backlash if they did not. The community's criticism shapes how they will respond. However in this liberal-influenced realism the family has the opportunity to make the choice for themselves.

    The comparison of the world affecting actions vs actions effects on the world is quite a difference; that is present throughout the relative texts. The social effects are most notable when implicated toward race. In “Down By the Riverside” Mann is placed in a position that he is condemned to with no fair trial due to his race. Mann was forced into his demise because of social ideas, not what he did. On his way to die he was dragged past people of his own race but nobody had the power to affect his situation. At the tent white people began to rile up against him enforcing his fate without even knowing his conviction. However, in A Raisin in the Sun the family is able to face opposition to racism and can change how they are affected by the world. They weigh what their decision will mean to the family. The family decides to give up and cash out in fear of backlash. In the last moments they changed and stayed with the house with a liberal point of view that defies social standards. The empowering ideology and opportunity of realist independence leads them to oppose the predatory white community.

    Viewing the social implication of these texts is important to understanding the motivation and power they had being protest literature. The contrast of these being two different situations that socially only change by time is important. Opposition is time relative, all things change after enough time. It is important to fight against racism and stereotyping because we as a society need to move forward in a positive direction.

Down by the Riverside, with four etchings by John Wilson

(New York: The Limited Editions Club, [2001])