Tell Me Lies

[15 March 2010]
"Artists use lies to tell the truth. Politicians use them to cover it up."

Stay tuned for more. . .

[16 March 2010]

. . . And we're back!

I mostly agree with Wright's assertion that politicians and artists are on opposite sides of the spectrum. For one, politicians are (mostly) concerned with constructing a logical argument that will appeal to the greatest number of people. Artists are more concerned with expressing what they themselves want to hear; this shows the clearly opposing polarities of artists and politicians. In Wright's world, the painters of the John Reed Club are more concerned with their cartoons, which actually scared away their desired audience (including Wright's mother). The "Wrighters" (couldn't resist) are trying to use their writing to convince people of their cause in a less harsh manner. It seems as if the artists in the book don't fit in well with the rest of the John Reed Club; this is what truly manifests their differences.

They are similar, however, in that artists and politicians both paint pictures, tell stories, and attempt to use their work to bring you to a fantasy world that really doesn't exist.

P. 266-267

In this passage, Wright comes to realize that his view of the world has been tainted by his Southern experiences, so much that this is the only world he truly knows. He also understands why other blacks respond to racism in the ways that they do; it is because "his [blacks] total life was conditioned by their [whites] attitude." He also explain that by loading "the empty part of the ship of my personality with fantasies of ambition to keep it from toppling over into the sea of senselessness," he was able to avoid the self-defeating and self-hating mindsets of others. (Wonderful metaphor!) But, he also notes, that he sometimes despised his very own mind because "I [Wright] would hate myself for allowing my mind to dwell upon the unattainable." This signifies that he still feels trapped; no matter what he is able to do to free himself of oppression, it results in despising something about himself. This could be viewed as almost sympathizing to the emotions of the "black man [that] grew in turn to hate himself that which others hated in him", who Wright explains is a person who also tries to hide this self-hate, which leads to "a war with himself", consequently limiting many possibilities for either personal progress or resistance to racism.

The Wright Changes?

It seems that the changes that Wright is making towards the end of his stay in Memphis are most definitely for the better. He seems to be finding his place in his world; some could say that he doesn't want his place to be the place that other blacks (such as his father and Shorty) have taken. His goal is to become a writer, which is something he knows not a lot of others are trying to do. He also knows that the only way to achieve his goal is to move to the North; the extremity of oppression in the South would not allow him to come anywhere close to becoming a professional writer. He also wants to quench his thirst for knowledge and his hunger for understanding of the world; in the South, his physical hunger often kept him from being able to do certain things, such as work at the postal office, and his lack of sufficient education hindered not only his writing, but some of his understanding of the business world. I hope that he is able to do much better in the North; judging by the fact that this is actually a book he wrote, I can assume he did much better.

SUBSERVIENCE SUBSERVIENCE

Yes, subservience is a necessary part of living. It is the degree to which it is applied that can be potentially useful or dangerous. Take Richard Wright's situation, for example. When he was in Jackson, his lack of subservience caused him to be attacked by his family members and coworkers, ridiculed in his school and church communities, and shut out from the hierarchical society of the time. While these may all seem like negative results, you can't judge a blog by it's background. To Wright, these are the consequences of attaining his own special freedom—the freedom to not be subservient. His direct denial of subservience to his family can be contrasted with his indirect lack of subservience to white racism. He actively and verbally defies his family's religion, ethics, and relations. With whites, however, he contains an inner rebellion against their suppression, and only actively denies subservience when he is required to actively participate in it. The few times he submits his freedom for personal gain, he feels as if he has betrayed his own runaway freedom by going back to his cultural master. This all changes in Memphis, however; because the intensity of the hatred against his race seem to lessen there (with the exception of the fight with Harrison), he feels he can be just a little more subservient without betraying himself; this allows him to be treated better by the whites, and also gives him a feeling that he is beginning to find a place in society. It is his varying subservience that allows him to feel an inner freedom from the chaos that surrounds him, or give it up for an external freedom.

In our situation, subservience is still necessary, and the variations of intensity are also necessary. They are not, however, in any way similar to the subjugation that Wright had to endure. When I go to school, I must abide by the rules. While this is most definitely a curtailment of my personal freedom, I realize that I am essentially trading freedom for security, because without a successful atmosphere, I would not be able to learn as well, thus impairing the security of my future. I may feel, at times, that some rules do not secure my or anyone else's learning, so it is a possibility that I, Kwame Everson Newton (hereby referred to as "blogger"), may have, knowingly or unknowingly, in whole or part, broken some rules and/or violated some reglations in the past. While some may argue that this lack of subordination is uncalled for, I believe that it is the price to pay for a small amount of freedom. Subservience to parents is also necessary; for example, if I want to go to Azerbaijan next weekend, I might have to take out the SALT PEANUTS. I may feel that this is completely unnecessary, but I must temporarily submit my freedom to be able to achieve my goals. If I don't, not only will I not be able to go to a most likely radioactive country, but I also will be punished. This is not nearly as extreme as Wright's fight, but it is a very similar concept. If I believe one of their rules or orders to be morally wrong, however, I would not follow them because they would be directly counteractive to my goals. Subservience to an employer or customer is much more rigid. If I work for Bob, and Bob tells me to write a paper on the history of indoor cabbage, I'm most likely going to write that paper, no matter how rediculous it sounds. I may think it is completely unnecessary, but I would need the job in order to be able to financially support myself, assuming I have no other options available. If he tells me how to write the first paragraph, however, not only would I be extremely pissed off, but I would also defy his orders, because I feel that the paper should by my work alone. He may not like it, but the work would be completed and I would still be hired. The importance of having a job dictates the degree to which one will be subservient.

I believe that subservience is completely necessary for all human beings because we all have to live together, and the easiest way to do so peacefully is to compromise, but the degree to which it is employed must vary based on personal beliefs, current situation, and the possible outcomes of non-subservience. Too much can create a spinless puppet, but too little can create arrogance.

Valedictorian

As the subplot about Richard's valedictorian speech started to unfold, I instantly knew what was going to happen: he was going to deliver his own speech, which would spur some kind of conflict. The end result, however, was most certainly not expected. In retrospect, however, it makes sense; he had been conditioned to blatantly defy conflicts that he himself created. While some may not agree, I think that his flight is analogous to defending himself from Uncle Tom with the razor blades, or other similar situations. It is him allowing a situation to escalate to the point where the only way out is to take extreme measures. When he decides to say his own speech, he is, in a way, trying to fight for justice, but he is also trying to “fight the power”. Although one could say that he should have learned that this would never work when he was much younger, he was fighting a justifiable fight for freedom, even though it was inevitably a losing fight.

Uncle Tom's Cabbage

Richard was angry at Uncle Tom (was this a deliberately ironic name, or was that his real name?) for two reasons. For one, his uncle became extremely angry at Richard because of the way Tom was notified of his uncle's death. Richard did not mean to alarm him in such an abrupt manner, and his uncle thought that he was being an jerk on purpose. I thought that banning Wright from the funeral was a little harsh, though. I think that the rest of the family allowed Tom to do so because they don't really like him, and maybe even had superstitious thoughts about his "unholy" presence at his grandfather's funeral. Because Richard didn't really like his grandfather (he didn't really dislike him, either; he recognized the reasons why his grandfather was the way he was), he wasn't exactly insulted that he wasn't invited to the funeral, but realized that his family's intent was to hurt him. He was also angry at Uncle Tom because Richard was going to be beaten for a mistaken case of "being sassy".

On a deeper level, Richard does not like Uncle Tom because he tries to "teach him a lesson" for something that he didn't do, and his Uncle had never really helped out his family or raised him, so Richard feels that he has no right to do such things. Richard is able to realize that family is not always signified by biological links, but by social and emotional bonding, two things which Uncle Tom and Richard definitely do not share. When his uncle tries to discipline him, it is an intrusion into his family, and Richard is essentially defending his own family from an outsider.