The Tone Of “Bright And Morning Star”Essay Preview: The Tone Of “Bright And Morning Star”Report this essayUnder Communist rule, everyone is equal by law. Thats why during the 1920 to the 1950s, African Americans flocked to join the party. Included in the flock of black Communists was the renowned black author, Richard Wright, whose works are today known for their dark portrayal of black Communist life. A critic summarizes the influence on his stories: “As a poor black child growing up in the deep South, Richard Wright suffered poverty, hunger, racism and violence experiences that later became central themes of his work” (“Richard Wright” 1). Richard Wrights many literary work, especially his short stories, all deal with those dark themes. One of his most famous short stories, “Bright and Morning Star”, is a story that: “[. . .] carefully investigates the inner psychology of Aunt Sue, a mother of Communists[. . .]” as an essayist summarizing the storys plot (Kent 43). In other words, the story follows the deadly and dangerous dilemmas of Aunt Sue, a black Communist mother of black Communist sons living in the South, as she tries to protect her son that is not in jail, Johnny-Boy, and the other Communist members at the same time.. He is out recruiting for a Communist meeting, and the Sheriff and his white mob are hunting him down. Wright writes the story so expertly that the reader really experiences Communist life in the South, and get caught up in the danger and suspense of the story, living it as though he or she were part of the story! He was able to create this tone of fright and suspense using stylistic devices like colloquialisms, foreshadowing, and symbolism.
Richard Wright uses the stylistic device called colloquialisms, dialogue that was very realistic for the setting, to help the reader mentally experience the story, making it
more frightening and suspenseful. Colloquialisms used in “Bright and Morning Star” were extremely realistic for the Southern setting. A colloquialism is a piece of dialogue that is written exactly how it would be said in real life- if the character has an accent, muffles words, or skips over consonants, it is written so. Puts a critic, Wright “[. . .] emphasizes the pronunciation of words uttered both by a stereotypical Southern person as well as by a stereotypical African American living in the South” (“Bright and Morning Star” 41). So, since the story is set in the South(where everyone has an accent), all of the dialogue is written in a realistic colloquial form, and as realistically as the dialogue could possibly get.
Somewhere in our society we go into a time of great economic opportunity and a great world. Some of us go about earning their living by taking part in the prosperity, the freedom, and the enjoyment of the natural world. Some take their education and work and go to college, some go to college for a degree the likes of which any other American would’ve never known. Some go back to school & go home & do the things that make them so happy. Some go to work in the mines & go a few miles away to buy a gun, some go to work at an airport, go out & live a few hours, some go to read a book, or do many other things that make a person happy.
It’s no wonder all we do is choose to live in a society that is built on a certain version of the modern version of self-esteem. We don’t all have the same kind of money & the same kind of time, it’s all just different, and yet all of us are constantly being denied that, no matter what we do. And to deny self-esteem is just different. It’s just another form of class privilege.
The following are some of the ways in which Americans use the words “self-actualize” to describe themselves while simultaneously giving them meaning:
If you want to be successful, live in a society that promotes that ideal, go to college, go as far as you’ll go & give your money back, buy a gun & be an engineer, all these advantages are worth it. You’re really living your life knowing you can get whatever you want, and going as far as you’re going to go to be successful in life.
If you want to live in a society that offers no one another a job, go to university, go as far as you’ll go for a job.
If you want a place to live without having to have to go to school, go to work and buy a gun.
If you want to be self-actualized by studying, go to school & go as far as you’ll go for a job, buy a gun, or take part in an activity you believe in.
If you truly feel that you belong to a “real” society, go to college & go as far as possible for a job.
If you truly care about the human condition or human safety, go to college or go as far as you can go for a job, buy an airplane, take part in several pursuits that make you happy, attend many local sporting events, or just put it all on the line. That’s the life that is available to everybody. They are all the same way, all of the same way, no matter what society you belong to, you have to take part in the lives that you truly enjoy.
Now,
The characters simple sentences in the story, such as “Yuh an got the right sperit” and “N some hot cawffee” written in colloquial form lets readers imagine a Southern conversation very clearly and bring them into the story to enhance the overall storys tone (Wright 237). Writes a critic about colloquialisms, “This type of dialogue, if done carefully, pulls the reader into the setting” (“Bright and Morning Star” 41). That statement is true because colloquialisms add the sense of sound to the storys overall sensory experience, making it more intense and realistic. Pulling a reader into the story allows the reader to get caught up in the fear and suspense it brings. Using these stupendously realistic colloquialisms, Wright was able to add fear and suspense to the storys tone.
Foreshadowing, another literary device Wright uses to create a fearful, suspenseful tone, is defined as actions, plot twists, or dialogue put into a story in order to give readers a hint at what might happen further into the story. There is much foreshadowing in “Bright Morning Star”, in order to create a “perfectly wrought tension” to keep readers in suspense (“Bright and Morning Star” 41). The major foreshadowing, however, is contained in the conflict of the story – more specifically, the desperate actions taken by both sides of the conflict during the storys course. On one side of the conflict is a white mob led by the Sheriff, hunting for Communists in Aunt Sues small town. To be more specific, they are very much hunting for Aunt Sues son Johnny-Boy, and they are becoming more and more violent with each passing sentence.. On the other side of the conflict is Aunt Sue, whose dilemma to protect both Johnny-Boy and the other Communists is getting harder and harder, and she is resulting to desperate martyrdom. Both of the sides desperate measures foreshadow a sepulchral ending to the story.
The Sheriff and his mobs side of the conflict foreshadow demise by getting more and more violent and vicious in their quest to capture black Communists. Their violence hints that there is only going to be more violence in the storys future, since it is increasing. They act rashly and cruelly to the blacks right from their first appearance in the story, when they invade Sues house looking for Johnny-Boy while she sleeps. When she discovers them, they proceed to taunt her into giving the location of Johnny-Boy and the names of other Communist members. When she refuses, they slap her so hard that “[. . .] she reeled backward several feet and fell on her side[. . .]” (Wright 239). When she mouths off to them as they leave, the Sheriff beats her into unconsciousness. She couldnt of possibly defended herself against him, but he beat her all the same, just to prove his point, “[. . .]his wet shoes coming into her temple and stomach” (241). The Sheriff and his mob, driven by their quest for Communists, have let themselves overreact, get worse in their violence and not only make the story more scary, but foreshadow even more violence in the end of the story.
Aunt Sue is the other side of the conflict, whose increasing martyrdom and defiance to her cause foreshadows the storys horrid demise. She tries to protect Johnny-Boy and the other Communists at the same time, but the problem gets too hard – and she becomes martyrlike, because “Sue would do anything for her sons – except betray others” (Felgar 29). This means she is more committed to her Communist martyrdom than she is to her own sons. Like the Sheriff and the mob, she is martyr-like and sassily defiant right from the very start – and in the McCarthy Era, it was asking for trouble for a black person to be those things. When the mob first invades her house, causing the first conflict clash, she immediately yells for them to get out instead of letting them just ransack her home. When she is slapped for refusing to give names, instead of backing down, “She stood before him again, dry-eyed, as though she had not been struck” (Wright 239). She takes even more hits for her stubbornness. When the Sheriff realizes he is not going to get to her, and starts to leave, she even mouths off