If you choose to submit a reading response for Richard Wright's "Long Black Song," please do so in the comments section of this post. Remember: your response should be thoughtful, it should evidence a careful consideration of the text, and it should include at least one question for your instructor/your classmates about the text. Your response should be no less than 200 words and no more than 500 words, and at least relatively well-written (you will not be graded on grammar, but please remember that poor grammar/syntax reflects poorly on you/your ideas). If other students have posted before you, your response can be, in part, a response to their posts--feel free to take up other students questions or concerns and use this space as a forum for intelligent discussion. You may also post more than once, particularly if your initial post is short or ambiguous. Your grade for the reading response will be based on your collective input in the comments sections of this post.
The scene in “Long Black Song” where the white man comes to Sarah’s house trying to sell the graphophone. This scene portrayed a lot about the culture of the white man at this time. Basically, I felt that he thought he could do what he wanted and take what he wanted because he was white. He felt he was entitled to whatever because he was white and she was black. He even thought he was entitled to sex. Also, Sarah did not know what to do because he was white and it seemed as if it were hard to deny white people in those days. She said she did not need the graphophone constantly but the white man ignored this, continuously trying to get her to buy it. Also, I believe the white man showed his arrogance and dominance by leaving articles of clothes, handkerchief, and the graphophone. This made me feel like he could care less what the husband thought if he did come home. He felt like he could take whatever he wanted in that house including Silas’s wife and he did not care at all if the husband found out. I believe the white man thought there would be no repercussions to leaving his stuff there and even making sexual advances knowing she is the wife of another man. He thought because of his race he was superior and could do what he wanted.
ReplyDeleteLucas Garber
A Long Black Song is a short story that can be surmised by this one passage
ReplyDelete“Yes, killing of white men by black men and killing of black men by white men went on in spite of the hope of white bright days and the desire of dark black nights and the long gladness of green cornfields in summer and the deep dream of sleeping grey skies in winter. And killing started it went on, like a red river flowing….He was following that long river of blood….Yet he followed the old river of blood, knowing that it meant nothing….. Somehow, men, black men and white men, land and houses, green cornfields and grey skies, gladness and dreams, were all a part of that which made life good.?
This passage describes a dance, ballad, or some sort of rhythmic exhcange that is being played by white men and black men. Silas wants to be like the white man and despite his hatred for their race, it is perceived that white is successful and good. He seeks the things that white people have felt as a natural entitlement and I believe that is the allusion to the “white brighter days”. Black women have been sought after by the white man for decades and these transgressions would often occur in the evenings. As the white salesman approaches the house his sales call seemingly happens in the day, but as night approaches his desires come out and his “desires of dark black nights” ensues. The long gladness of green cornfields alludes to the prosperous desires by both black and white farmers seeking to be profitable and make “green” money from their crops that they toil hard and long on during the winter and spring and seek the rewards during the summer. This song is a duet being played out by black and white men. It is a longing that both seek and shows that each race envies the other and that they want what the other has.
The second part of this passage describes the ongoing saga of difficult race relations. A Long Black Song, is not necessarily about an African American song, but more of a black as in sad, type song being sung for the male race in general. He was following a long river of blood…. This represents the battle between races; an ongoing battle that seems to have no end…. It just continues to flow generation through generation, year after year.
Response: “Long Black Song”
ReplyDeleteI believe that this story demonstrates how people can have little control over a situation. Silas does not what to fight or die; he says that it is the same if he fights or if he doesn’t fight. He is tired of struggling and he basically killed his dream when he killed the white man. He has been through so much discrimination and hate that he has decided that nothing he does will ever be good enough. He says that white people take your freedom, dignity, your women and ultimately your life. I think Silas just feels completely hopeless and he is tired of fighting.
As far as whenever “bang, bang, bang,” is used in the story I think it is the author’s way of bringing Sarah back to reality. She drifts off in these daydreams thinking about white days and black nights, and then all of the sudden she is brought back to reality.
With Sarah and the white man, she also does not have control over the situation. The white man is an authoritative figure to her someone who is considered better than her. I think she felt that she was expected to do whatever he wanted; she probably felt some kind of obligation to him and could not say no. She is also lonely and gets taken advantage of against her will. Once again the situation was out of her hands, whatever she did or didn’t do, the white man would have probably forced her to have sex with him regardless.
-Megan Switzer
As I was not able to be in class when we discussed “Long Black Song” I really wanted to talk about it on the blog. I am sure you all elaborated on Richard Wright’s use of color in class, but when I was reading "Long Black Song" the color red jumped out at many numerous times. At first I was a little confused as to why Richard Wright would use this word, but then I realized that the meaning seemed to change from the beginning to the end of the story. I feel that towards the beginning of the story the "red" is referring to Sarah's lust for a man. The first time we see the color used is referring to as “a big ball or red dying between the branches of the trees (pg 125).” Lust is usually known to be the strongest at night and this red of the sun is bringing on nightfall. In the sexual encounter between the white man and Sarah, the color red is used to describe Sarah’s pleasure in the encounter as “a high red wave of hotness [that] drowned her (pg. 137).” After the sexual encounter, the word red seemed to turn into a color of shame. Red has been used as a color of shame for centuries and when mentioning the red calico cloth I thought of it as Sarah’s “scarlet letter.” At the very end of the story the meaning of “red” changes for the last time. I think the red at the end of the story describes, as Richard Wright put it, “a long river of blood” that has been shed in the fight against white and black. Wright continues with symbolism of red into the very last paragraph. As Sarah watches the house is “hidden by eager plumes of red (pg. 156)” and another man is consumed in the war of race.
ReplyDelete-Kelcey Flegel
Excellent, excellent post Kelcey. Wonderful analysis of the "red" motif in the story.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Kelcey's post I also thought that the repeated metaphors with the colors was very interesting. However, rather than red, I was very interested to analyze the significance of Sarah's "eyes full of wet stars, silver and blue." This metaphor of blue and silver is mentioned a few times within the "Long Black Song" but the two that stood out most to me both occur during the scene of Sarah's sexual interaction with the white man.
ReplyDeleteTo first analyze the colors blue and silver I looked up their meanings and significance that they may have. I found that blue is often associated with trust, loyalty, wisdom, and truth; while silver embodied security, intelligence and maturity. To me both of these were similar but also interesting to think about when considering Sarah's interaction with the white man. Personally I believe that her "silver and blue tears" represent her possible loss of these qualities (especially loyalty and maturity) or fear of losing these qualities when "her knees were loose and she heard her own breathing; she was trying to keep from falling" (136).
Sarah is clearly uncomfortable by the situation however I am still not certain whether she is uncomfortable because she feels she is being unfaithful to Silas, or solely because he is a white man. She repeatedly screams "But hes a white man! A white man! Naw! Naw!" without mentioning Silas at all in the passage which gives me reason to believe that it may be the second of the two.
I still have many concerns and questions about how silver and blue is used. Although I believe that in this passage it represents her losing the qualities of maturity, security and intelligence, it seems that in the next passage it may represent her regaining these qualities when "a streak of silver and blue [sweeps] across her blood" (137).
I definitely intend to analyze these further and include them in my essay.
--Zach Greenberger
In “The Long Black Song” it only takes one night to ruin a life full of dreams, hope for the future, and to destroy a man’s life and other’s lives as well. In the beginning the narrator expresses Sarah’s intimate thoughts of her previous relationship with Tom, of war, and her loneliness. These thoughts lead to Sarah’s encounter with the white man, for it is when she dreams of the “white bright days and the deep desire of dark black nights” that this white man arrives. In addition, the gifts that the white man brings are part of his game. I’m not sure if she realizes it, but when she sees and hears the graphophone’s music she begins to accept his offer and his desires. The narrator states, “The color in the wood glowed softly. It reminded her of the light she saw sometimes in the baby’s eyes. Slowly she slid a finger over a beveled edge; she wanted to take the box into her arms and kiss it.” Moments later Sarah hears “the white man breathing at her side; felt his eyes on her face….[and] saw he was looking at her breasts.” The timing of the white man’s arrival could not have been any better. At her moment of weakness, the white man arrives, and Sarah has no strength or had no will to resist.
ReplyDeleteThis story really saddens me because her husband, Silas, has his own dreams/desires of farming and living like the white men. When he arrives home from town, he says: “‘Ah bought ten mo acres o lan. Got from ol man Burgess. Paid im a hundred n fifty dollahs down….Ahma have t git a man t hep me nex spring…’” When he learns of the white man’s visit, it takes only a moment for Silas to snap and all joy and dreams for the future to fade away. He feels betrayed in all capacity by his wife and by the white men. Silas yells, “‘From sunup t sundown Ah work mah guts out t pay them white trash bastards whut Ah owe em, n then Ah comes n fins they been in mah house!... Tha white ape kin come n git tha damn box n Ah ain gonna pay im a cent! He had no bisness leavin it here, n yuh had no bisness letting im!’” Unfortunately, Sarah does not seem ashamed for her reactions. For example, when Sarah hears the noise of Silas coming home she wants to fight the noise off and “to feel the peace of night filling her again.” If she was truly ashamed of her actions, I believe she would have repented to her husband and have told him the entire truth instead of denying it. All it takes were those dreams of Tom, feelings of loneness, and a white man’s visit during the night to destroy all visions of a good future and a man’s life. She did not have her husband’s and baby’s interests first most in her mind, so why did she behave in such a foolish way?
~Taci Hodgins
John Osinski
ReplyDeleteOur discussions on moral truth this unit have been greatly exemplified in this story. I believe that our overall discussions in class, especially our discussions on this book have lead me to believe there is no such thing as one set depiction of what moral truth really is. Morality is a constantly changing concept which is shaped and molded by the ideals of the people within different societies. In effect, right and wrong can be seen as two entirely different things depending on a given culture. The characters in, “Long Black Song”, attest to this changing set of moral guidelines.
My first character example for this point is shown through Silas. Throughout Silas’ life he has received nothing but racist hatred and oppression from the strong white majority in a setting of the racially segregated southern United States. He shows his moral struggles when he proclaims late in the story, “But, Lawd, Ah don wanna be this way! It don’t mean nothing! Yuh die ef yuh fight! Yud die ef yuh don fight! Either way yuh die n it don mean nothing…” Despite his struggles to maintain his pure pursuit of a life of happiness while following his morals handed down through his religion, Silas is forced to make what seems to the audience an immoral decision by fighting back against the “white man”. However, I argue that Silas’ decision was one that was not guided by evil intentions, but one that was a made out of a necessity to survive. While considering this, I believe that under the certain societal pressures he was facing it is wrong of us to judge that what he did was immoral. Especially when society as a whole back then would have been seen as disgustingly immoral as far as they problems they had with race relations.
The next character that I think pretails to this argument is Sarah. I believe that while the book made her seem like a whore as concerns with her actions with the white salesman, that her actions were to protect Silas more than anything else. In that time period for Sarah to lash out and struggle against the white man she would have probably gotten killed, which once again shows she had no choice. When Silas returns homes and starts to put the clues left behind together, Sarah yells in her defense, “Ah ain lied t yuh” and adding that the man “ain took nuthin off fer [her]”. To me it was clear that she wasn’t doing this to be sneaky she was lying in order to save Silas from himself. She knew that in society Silas couldn’t do anything to defend himself even though the actions done upon them were moral by themselves. This once again leads to the answer that she made an immoral decision to lie in order to try to save her husband from being killed.
The Long Black Song by Richard Wright was a troubling short story for me; not just because of the nature and subject matter but more so because of the concerns I had surrounding the class discussion. The nature of the “incident” with Sarah and the gramophone salesman in particular raised some reactions and responses that threw me a bit.
ReplyDeleteTo dispense with the stylistic observations first, I found it comedic and ironic (in a tragic way of course) that the story was called a song. It arouses (pardon the pun) a sense of poetry and art that are contradistinctive to the events that are the focus. This may have accounted for some of the reactions and responses that surprised me: The colorful and poetic flow of the prose in spots, and the passionate expression in other places, may have caused many of us to miss that at best this was a coerced adulterous act and at worse (and more probably) a rape.
The fact that the author focused on Sarah’s sexual past (which really we only got record of three men total … hardly a promiscuous slut by our standards) seemed to give room to a “she wanted it” and “she deserved it” argument that I wouldn’t have thought would be given much credence in our day and age; particularly in an institution of higher learning and even from the women in the class. Even if she physically showed the signs of arousal and mentally were intrigued about the prospect, the fact that she did say no and physically refused (holding her knees together, etc.) would in reasonable minds deem this an assault.
To push the point further, the fact that she could want it with every fiber of her being, yet because of marital commitment, morality or social convention, still say no and go against her impulses should merit praise as opposed to opening her up to criticism. Saying no when you have no desire to say yes is easy. Saying no when you really want to say yes is much harder and demonstrates a part of what separates humans from other animals.
However, in the face of these facts the class discussion focused almost solely on “Sarah the Slut” and almost not at all on a stranger who raped a married woman. After years of being inundated with “no means no”, we ignore that standard completely in the face of the facts of this story. I’d hate to distill it down and oversimplify it to say it’s because this was a Black woman who was perceived to be loose and a white man. So instead I’ll simply ask “what other explanations are there out there?”
Donte Lazarus
The quote that stood out to me the most was:
ReplyDelete“The white folks ain never gimme a chance! They ain never give no black man a chance! There ain nothing in yo whole life yuh kin keep from em! They take yo lan! They take yo freedom! They take yo women! N then you take yo life!”
I think the reason why I had such a strong reaction to this quote is because it reveals all the anger, sadness, hopelessness, and every other emotion that Silas is feeling from the racism he has endured his whole life. To me it seemed as though all the racism he had gone through in the past built up, and then when his own wife was “taken” from him, he snapped, and gave up on trying to live and compete with white men. Also, at this point in the story, it seemed like he was in a loose loose situation. The character that most interested me was Sarah. Her character confused me especially in the particular passage where she was “raped”, I began to question whether it was in fact a rape, or if she wanted it to happen (in some twisted way). Then I began to think… would it matter either way? Because it was a white man, he would have gotten what he wanted, simply because of the perceived authority that the white men had over blacks. At the end of the story, although I should have been happy about the way Silas fought back against the white men, I felt myself feeling sad and selfishly wishing that he would have just ignored the whole situation and gone on to live with his wide and continue to build their life together.
This quote stood out to me as well when I read the story. Silas seemed to be finally getting what he wanted: his own land, his own farm, and some of his own workers. He said he is doing what the white man does and that is how you get ahead in life. Unfortunately when everything seems to be going right for Silas the white man, whom he worked so hard to be like and be equal to, took from him what he cherised most, his wife.
ReplyDeleteHe seemed to be able to take the fact that the white man had taken his land and his freedom, but when they took his wife that seemed to make him snap from a mild mannered hard working man to one that was readily willing to give up his life in revenge against the white man. Silas knew the only thing that he could take from the white man was their lives and that was the only way he could get revenge for what they had done to him. I agree with Lauren that I wish that Silas had just ignored the event or that Sarah had been more careful in hiding what had happened because Silas had worked so hard to get where he was and that one event destroyed everything.
"Long Black Song" was a very compelling story in the sense that it showed an even more troubling view of the struggle between whites in blacks. Through out the story it was a theme of how the white man has ultimate power of the black. This is seen through the salesman and Sarah, and then between the white men and Silas. Sarah was never in control the moment the white man came to her door selling his merchandise. It ended up with him sleeping with Sarah, and changing the rest of the story. However, there were two different view points you could have taken from this encounter. One was the Sarah was lonely and wanted to be loved in one way or another, since the author gave the account of her sexual past. The other was that the white man took advantage of her in a very vulnerable state because he knew he could and get away with it. Next is when Silas finds out and is very angered, and finds out that the white man is coming back the next day. He ends up shooting at the white man and his friend and kills one of them, knowing full well the consequences. It was then that Silas realized that no matter what he would always lose to the white man. This is apparent when he says, "Yuh die ef yuh fight! Yud die ef yuh don fight! Either way yuh die n it don mean nothing…” This was probably the most troubling section of the story for me since Silas talks about how he has dreams and how hard he was worked to achieve these dreams, and one night just ruined it all.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing in the story that I found interesting was the use of the words "bang, bang, bang." It is used every time she is drifting out of reality and thinking about past things in her life. In my opinion the bang, bang, bang is in a way "waking her up" and bringing her back into the present day. It is also to show the readers that the passage preceding was a day dream.
It is a shame that one night could cause such anguish in one family's life. Once again, the fact that it was acceptable for the white men to come back and burn down the house with Silas in it is awful.
In “The Long Black Song” I felt a sadness for Sarah. During this time period is it evident that women especially black women had little say in their life and they are expected to take care of kids and the house. This is the typical “housewife” persona that was expected of all women until recently when it became common for women to take on another role as a working, independent woman. For Sarah she has this loneliness which comes off a lot like sexual desire but to me it just seemed like a sadness from always being alone and not being with the man she truly loved Tom. Although I am sure Sarah loves Silas, it is not in a true love sort of way but more a love for taking care of her, giving her a home and safety. When the white salesman came to their home Sarah seemed to be at a peak in her loneliness from her continued day dreaming of Tom earlier, this made her weak emotionally and mentally and thus it was very easy for the white man to force himself upon her with only little hesitant and resistance. In this situation obviously Sarah had no other choice but to give in because she knew if she didn’t it would probably end with being raped or abused. It is hard to read the passages once Silas has returned home because he does truly love Sarah and seems to know deep down that she does not have the same strong feelings for him. He also has a strong hatred for the white men when he states they take your land, your freedom, your home and your women. Silas so desperately wants to live in peace with his farm and land he worked so hard for but knows it can be lost instantly. He is so passionate when he says if “Yuh die ef yuh fight! Yud die ef yuh don fight! Either way yuh die n it don mean nothing.” It is so clear that to black people during this period they had little choice between life or death when it came to standing up for themselves and their rights. If they fight for respect and life they will surely die but if they don’t fight its like death because they will have nothing. On a side note, honestly did not get a real understanding for the symbolism or meaning behind the recurring bang, bang, bang.
ReplyDeleteJessica Phillips
I am in the process of revising my original paper, and therefore, came back to reexamine certain aspects of this story. The one perspective we tend to overlook is that of Sarah’s husband, Silas, due to the fact that he is not a main character. People have mentioned that they feel sadness for Sarah and her situation, yet I have to say that I feel worse for Silas! I do not mean for this to be comical, but he works his ass off for Sarah and their family and she goes and screws around behind his back! That is the most disrespectful and cold-hearted thing you could possibly do. (And this is based on my interpretation that she WANTED to have sex and was not necessarily raped.)
ReplyDeleteFor this reason I have chosen to show my sympathy for Silas and defend (some) of his actions. I feel that he is rightfully furious with Sarah and possibly even knew about her promiscuous ways but had never caught her. We are not clear how Silas and Sarah met, all we know is that she used to be with Tom, and she certainly didn’t mind the sexual relations with him. Either way, Silas shows how much he cares for Sarah by being rightfully hurt and angry with her. He throws her things out of the house and tells her to leave. Would you do anything different? Would you let her stay in the house? Ladies would you let your man sleep around and not break up with him?
I must admit that Silas’s actions from here out are a bit over the top, but the “affair” represents much more to Silas than just the physical act of love. To him, it meant lowering himself to the white man. This is the same white man that he tried to overcome by working everyday in his life. He secured his own private land, had a faithful family, and a respectable job up to this point. And in his eyes, in a matter of moments, thrusts, groans, kisses, and gropes, it all came crumbling down. His demoralized state led him to get into an outrageous and deadly pissing contest with the white men that ultimately resulted in Silas’ death.
I feel for Silas and (again based on the idea that it was not a raping but that she also wanted to have sex) believe that his actions, though way too over the top, were somewhat justified had they been on a smaller scale.
Please note that, if I believed she were raped, these comments would be very different and would be completely sympathetic for Sarah. Just trying to play devils advocate.
I agree with most of what Megan had to say in an earlier response.
ReplyDeleteSarah had little to no control over the situation, as soon as a male entered her space. In the case of the salesman, it was a white man, so she has NO say in anything other than to reference what her husband may say. When the salesman and Sarah begin to converse, she keeps describing him as a “young boy”. This gives us the perception that he is innocent and has no cruel intentions. We learn the complete opposite when he makes an advance on Sarah at the well. The book emphasizes his “whiteness” by italicizing the word “white” in this specific situation. That line is from Sarah’s mind, and it shows her realization that she is helpless against a white man. All she can do is push the man away, but it does nothing.
A good quote to describe this section of the Uncle Tom’s Children are these lines between the salesman and Sarah.
Salesman: “I’m studying science”
Sarah: “Whuts tha?”
Saleman: “Oh,er...it’s about the way things are as they are”
Here, we get a clear description about why the adulterous acts happen in the first place. The white man does what he wants, and Sarah can do nothing but say “no”.
The sexuality of this section is very evident. Sarah does not openly express it, but when the salesman is around her sexual yearning is apparent. Sarah goes from nursing her baby, to the interactions with the white man (both the accidental and purposeful touching of her breasts). Sarah’s husband has been gone for longer than usual, and she is clearly thinking about that closeness that every human strives for. While she does not plan on going through with any of these sexually permissive thoughts, the situation comes about where she does not have a choice.
This section really shows the lack of control that African-Americans in general, and in specific women, were allowed to have by the dominating Caucasian community.
Do you think Silas was already curious about the salesman and Sarah before Sarah slipped up on telling Silas the price? What would have happened if she would have told originally told Silas it was $50?
-Chris Lendrim
Long Black Song was one of my favorite pieces that we covered this year. To me this story had a lot of meaning and was a glimpse of what life was like back during these times. I feel horrible for the fact that Silas stands up for his family and his beliefs burned down in his own home that he had worked so hard for. The reason for this is for killing a man who laid his hands on his wife. Sure killing the man wasn’t the right choice, but the white man should have never been there and had put the situation on Silas’ wife to begin with.
ReplyDeleteThe most significant part of this story is the fact that it seemed that Silas’ wife didn’t really do a very good job of fending off the salesman as we discussed in class. I know at first she said no and pushed him away but it doesn’t seem like she really and truly wanted him off of her. You have to wonder what was going through her head as she was on the hilltop looking down while the house her husband was In burned to the ground without hearing a word from her husband.
Responding Zach’s post, I don’t think her yelling to Silas to stop being he is a white man had much to do with her lust for him. I think that she wanted him to stop because she knows that if Silas reacts than the repercussions that he would encounter would be far worse for him and the rest of his family. Yet he decides to go ahead and take out his frustration on the white man and his friend.
The question I leave with this post is, knowing how mad Silas was, would you react in the same way? Would you, kill a man knowing that your life is going to change and the fact that your families lives could be at stake?
- David Erbacher
I feel that Silas acted out of impulse and it seems like he almost felt betrayed by white men in general after all the work that he has done for them in order to succeed in his life. The story mentioned how Silas worked hard enough to buy the land from a white man and he continuously works in the fields and has to plea with them to buy his cotton. “Ah work my guts out t pay them white trash bastards whut Ah owe t em….Ah cant go into their houses, n yuh know Gawddam well Ah cant! (143)”. Silas is at mercy to the white man and always seems to get taken advantage of, it is definitely understandable how he reacted. In response to David, I would have not necessarily killed the salesman if I were in Silas's shoes, but there would have definitely been some physical altercations because he slept with my wife. Silas does have a right to be mad a Sarah, but he must understand that there was nothing really that she could have done. Sure it seemed like she gave in, but it also seemed like the white man had control over her physically and mentally due to his strength and her fear of white society's punishment had she not given in.
ReplyDeleteAfter killing the salesman, Silas shouts, “they take yo lan…yo freedom…yo women…n then they take yo life” (152). He is angry and wants the white men to “feel it” when they return. He knows, however, that there will be severe repercussions for his actions and he knows that the salesman's friends will return. When Sarah asks him to flee, Silas’s proclamation of “yuh die ef yuh fight! Yuh die ef yuh don fight (153)”, shows his frustration with his place in society. Even though his people are no longer slaves, there so called “freedom” is very limited and their right to equality has yet to exist.
Mark Doran
All of the three short stories, "Ethics of Living Jim Crow", "Big Boy Leaves Home", and "Long Black Song", are very unique in their plots, yet portray a consistent message, which is how awful racial oppression was during this time period. I would like to first respond to Mark Doran's comment. I think that his opinion of Silas' reaction to Sarah sleeping with another man is correct. There are very few events that Silas could have discovered that would be more devastating to him. He also describes how he has earned a lot over time through his hard work. Thus, it appears he acted out of an irrational state of mind and just followed instincts. Also, it seems that his action of killing the salesperson is reflecting the frustration that he can never escape the white man’s world. Silas feels betrayed by the force of white power, and not by Sarah’s unfaithful decisions. This following quote shows Silas’ angered feelings of living in the world he does. He expresses his helplessness and frustration of how unequal society is. "The white folks ain never gimme a chance! They ain never give no black man a chance! There ain nothin in yo whole life yuh kin keep from em! They take yo lan! They take yo freedom! They take yo women! N then they take yo life!"
ReplyDeleteAlthough Sarah fantasized about Tom initially, and then had an affair that was not purely her consent, what kind of consequence(s) did she deserve to face, if any? For the purpose of this question, there were no murders immediately following Silas’ discovery of the affair. My personal opinion is that Sarah cannot be held accountable to the extent that a typical cheating spouse would be. Despite making a decision she shouldn’t have, she was completely manipulated by the power of the white man. The text makes use of italicizing the word “white” in order to portray the salesperson’s empowerment in the situation.
-Mark Menezes
I believe “Long Black Song” shows how social ideas of power influence racism. It also exemplifies the vicious cycle of racism during this time. Silas talks about this when he says, “The white folks ain never gimme a chance! They ain never give no black man a chance! There ain nothin in yo whole life yuh kin keep from em! They take yo lan! They take yo freedom! They take yo women! N then they take yo life!”
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really confused me about this story was the question of did the white man actually rape the woman or not. In the story, it didn’t seem like she put up too much of a fight. This could have been racism’s affect on her, though. She might have fallen into the idea that she was inferior and was supposed to submit. She thought that she didn’t have a choice in the matter. The white man, conversely, expects her to submit to him. He doesn’t value their sex too much and it is shown by when he offers a discount on the graphophone. He was in a position of power because he was a white man and she was a black woman and in his mind he was entitled to get what he wanted.
Silas knew exactly what would happen after he killed the white man much like Big Boy did. They were both well aware of the cycle of racism that had been going on for years. He calmly waited for the mob to show up since he knew it was inevitable. I believe he didn’t run because he was just so furious and he also wanted to defend his own land. So when the white men arrived to kill him, he met them head on and started firing his gun. Silas had spent his entire life living within the cycle and trying to make his way. Now, he was fed up with it and was going to take a stand.
I don’t think Silas had a right to kill the white man, but he did have every right to be furious at his situation. He had finally earned his own land and had just sold his crops and came home to find that a white man had taken his woman which was the most important thing of all. Silas was actually quite the opposite of the woman. She was submitting because she thought she had no choice, but Silas was saying this is not right and was taking a stand. Silas’s stand was not only against the mob that came to kill him, but against the social ideas of power which fed off of racism.
-Sean Graham
When Silas was expressing his revolt towards white people, he says to Sarah: "The white folks ain never gimme a chance! They ain never give no black man a chance! There ain nothin in yo whole life yuh kin keep from em! They take yo lan! They take yo freedom! They take yo women! N then they take yo life!". This statement clearly shows how the character (Silas) is aware of the racist oppression of society. It almost seems that he would be less upset if Sarah would have betrayed him with an African American like him. Even Sarah gives readers the impression that she was trying to resist the attempts of the white man just because he was white. She kept saying to herself “But he is a white man! A white man!” as if her action (of betraying Silas) was wrong just because the graphophone seller was white.
ReplyDeleteRossana “Xana” Guerreiro
I found this short story in Uncle Tom's Cabin the most disheartening. Not only did it show the poor treatment of blacks, but also of the African American women. They were lower than the black men and had no rights. They had to deal not only with racism, but sexism as well. The scene where the white man rapes the woman is horrible. Because she is black, she feels there is nothing that she can do but try to get through it and dissociate. The worst part is how the husband reacts. He gets angry with the wife, neglecting all the guilt and emotions she must feel. Its not like she enjoyed being raped or had any say in it. Instead of trying to be with her through this, he tells her to get out and then he kills the man that raped his wife. As if the woman has not been through enough, she has to watch her husband burn to death in her own house set on fire by the white men. They have taken everything from her. Her home, husband, dignity. Everything she had left despite having no rights, the only freedom they couldnt take from her, her integrity they took as well. This was one of the worst stories told because there was nothing the woman could do, and she probably would feel that guilt everyday of her life.
ReplyDeleteI thought the "Long Black Song" was very entertaining. Here you see how black women were looked at back in history. A black woman who sleeps with a white man, even though not by choice and likes it. She knows it is wrong but enjoys it. She knows it should not happen and hopes that her husband (Silas) will not find out because she knows all hell will break loose if he does. And of course it does when her husband kills the white man. By killing the white man Silas shows his life long struggle with white people. Silas feels that white people are able to do as they please and he will not take it anymore. In the end it comes full circle and Silas is killed by angry white people. So by killing the white man Silas' dream of discrimination ending dies too.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Long Black Song was really sad and clearly depicted how difficult being a black woman during these times. First of all Sarah doesn’t seem to really like her husband Silas too much because she is interested in someone else. It is hard to imagine that she could easily get away from Silas if she wanted to so she has to remain married to him. When the white guy comes to her house and has sex at her she knows she can’t really fight him off and if she did she could get in trouble for assaulting a white man so she just takes it. I think that Wright was trying to explain how being a black person was hard back in the day but being a black woman was even harder. Does anyone agree that the race oppression was also represented by gender oppression?
ReplyDeleteWhen the white man is having sex with Sarah she goes into something like a fantasy land. I think she does this to escape how horrible things are for her and she is clearly not enjoying it. I think that Tom is part of her fantasy as well. Life will probably never be good for her so she has to go to her fantasy to get away from reality. I feel like she was reverting back to childhood in her fantasies.
I really don’t think that she enjoyed the sex she was having at all because she didn’t really seem present during it. Maybe she thought if she pretended to like it, it would be easier to go through but I really don’t think there is anyway she enjoyed the rape.
Martha Gillespie
I have written about the section “Long Black Song” for paper 1. However, I want to discuss about what I didn’t mention about in paper 1. Of course, Sarah is guilty about having a sexual intercourse with other guy, in my opinion; it was not a rape because of lack of resistance. Also, Silas is guilty about killing a person. Although Silas and Sarah were deserved to be punished, one thing you should notice was that there was no chance for Silas to defend himself. “The white folks ain never gimme a chance! They ain never give no black man a chance!” This passage was such a heartstring. A man who wanted to have a little happiness with his family and land was pathetic. The witch-hunting public opinion did not allow him to get any chance to do anything. At this time, I agree with the comment above. To prove and express the social justice in the society is wrong, he stood for another justice alone. I think he knew that only way to insist his justice is a death without avoidance. At this moment, question has been appeared in my mind. Who decides the justice in a society? The social justice is created by majority’s ethics. Thus, the white’s justice is right? My answer is “No” for this. Although the majority was whites in this story, crisis of Silas was unfair.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Yoon-
There were a few moments in this story where Sarah could have asked the man to leave when she knew things were heating up. After he showed her the clock, she noticed him looking at her breasts; not only did she not kick him out, but she let him continue to check her out and then eventually led to the bedroom. Unfortunately, I really don’t think Sarah was upset that these things happened. This is because she never really told him a straight story as to what happened. She kept changing up the tale, and it makes you wonder whether or not she was actually sorry for what happened. If she had truly been sorry, I’m sure she would have told Silas exactly what had happened as soon as he walked in the house, explained the phonograph, and told him she was extremely sorry and that there really wasn’t anything for her to do about it. But she just sat there and let him guess and continue to get more and more mad. This is the part of the story that makes me not feel sympathy for Sarah, she had made her choice not to tell him the truth, and now she was going to have to stick with the decision that maybe she did commit adultery. Although it was rape, she didn’t regret it; so it makes you wonder more about the situation.
ReplyDeleteI really hate how Silas goes crazy at the end of the story. I know it would be hard to work your tail off for your family all day, then on top of that, come home to find out your wife has been raped. The worst part of this for him was that he actually liked the white men and aspired to be like them some day. I think Silas got so mad after finding out what happened to Sarah because he knew that they did these things, which made him feel like dirt. He was okay with them stealing their money and land, but to take the last viable thing that made him a man, was completely unacceptable to him. It makes me upset for Sarah with how things unfolded. It’s not like she intentionally seduced the man, she was raped and couldn’t do anything about it; but she could have changed the way she told her husband about it. Although she had a shady past, she put these things behind her and settled down enough to get married and have a baby. So it is unfortunate that after everything she went through to make her life perfect with Silas, things unfolded the way they did.
-Allie Nicosia
Long Black Song started of fairly boring to me but it finished with a detailed fight that was actually quite exciting, minus the racism. The story is ultimately about how Silas, a black man, did everything he could to get ahead in life. He got his own land and some workers of his own. He called it “doing what the white man does.” However, in the long run, the white man took away everything that Silas had accomplished by emulating the white man. The white man took his land and most importantly his wife.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the clock salesman taking Silas’ wife, I feel bad for Silas and a little bit for his wife. Sarah didn’t really have a choice in being intimate with him. Some would say that the man forced himself upon her. Although this may be true, in my opinion it did not seem like Sarah was trying to resist the man. The text is also pretty detailed about what she was feeling and some would say that she was feeling nothing but good things.
Once Silas found out about this encounter, war was declared so to speak. Unfortunately for Silas, it was found acceptable for the white men to destroy all of Silas’ property, including burning down his house while he was still in it.
-Ryan Cormack
I am excited to read this story just because the previous stories that I have read from this book were very interesting and made me put more thought about things that happen, reasons why that happen, and apply it to my real life. I really do not like the fact that the wife in this story become very unfaithful, instead of waiting for her husband to come home she cheated behind him. For me personally despite the fact whether she cheated with white man or black man it does not matter. The most important thing is that she was cheating behind her husband, when he work hard to give his best to his family but he came home and found this ugly truth about his wife. The white man probably the one that starts seduce him, but she did not refuse either, she even invited him to come back again, what a woman? When her husband found out about her promiscuity and whipped her, I felt like she deserved it although it might be sounds too harsh when I said that. I cannot blame the husband for being out of control, acted like one crazy man and ended kills the white man. Let’s put it this way, at that time there was almost no laws that exist, that was one of the reasons white people made their own rules that they were the ones that ruled and black people were just their servants that they could treated any way they wanted to. In this case, it was the other way around and I love it. Since the beginning of the book, I have been waiting for heroic action that one of those black people would fight back. I love this story just like the other stories in the book of Uncle’s Tom Children.
ReplyDeletePoppy Aprilia
Deez Nuts
ReplyDelete