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Post by reluedders on Jun 19, 2024 13:45:08 GMT
When I first came along the part where Fred is down in the sewer, and he sees a dead baby floating along in the water. That threw me way off when I read it. I often wonder, when I read things like this, what was he thinking when he wrote this? Did Richard Wright hear about someone who say something like this? Or was it just for a shock factor? I don't doubt that things like this actually do happen, but part of me hopes that it doesn't and that authors are just making this up to get a reaction out of their readers.
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 21, 2024 16:39:00 GMT
Just came to the dead baby scene myself, Renee, and I agree it was quite a shock for the reader. I don't think it's gratuitous, however--- to me it fulfills two purposes:
The first is that it seems to provide a link between Fred and his wife/ newborn. If I remember correctly, his wife was on the verge of giving birth before Fred went underground; surely she has given birth by now. The sight of the baby temporarily reminds him of his life and connections above ground (I don't think this baby is his, for what it's worth, but it is a "brown baby" and that seems to be significant).
The second is that gives him pause, then emphasizes how much he has severed himself from everything that exists above. It says that the baby provokes in him the "same kind of nothingness" that witnessing the church scene had earlier. The baby is cold/dead/ and beyond help; he can do nothing for it, and just pushes it along instead of mourning for it or doing anything about it.
When combined, I think this shows just how far away he is from the things he once found dear and meaningful: religion, family, children. Just a day earlier these had been his whole life, and how that he's gone underground, they barely register.
Any other readings of this passage?
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Post by dianarmartinez on Jun 24, 2024 1:38:06 GMT
I am aware that such things can happen, but I was not expecting that event to be in the story. I guess Wright wanted to push the boundaries of this story by showing how inhumane the world can be with the injustice of Fred being guilted about the murders to him watching another man have a similar situation happen and unalive himself. The fact that policemen assumed that it was guilty was also an assumption for them, but it is how they will classify the man in the newspaper.
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Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 24, 2024 21:29:42 GMT
Giving this a bump now that I've reached the very end of the novel (spoilers, obviously), when Fred gets shot and killed and himself falls into the sewer and is swept away by the current... In this way the narrative comes full circle and he's swept away just as brutally and callously as this baby was.
I do also think there's some commentary here on the value of Black lives and Black bodies-- how swiftly they may be ended and how easily disposed of. We don't know who put the little baby into the sewer, but we do know of the three policemen and exactly what they did to torture, kill, and get rid of Fred.
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Post by dcomeaux on Jun 25, 2024 0:42:28 GMT
I also just finished it and thought about the baby when Fred died and was swept away. Until I read the comment above, I hadn't realized that when I read the baby scene, Fred had only been underground for one day. I suppose with that in mind that scene could show just how disconnected he was from reality at that point. If he wasn't, surely he would have had more of a reaction, anyone would have.
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