Down by the Riverside - A sample assignment of WR121 PDF

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A sample assignment of WR121...

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Vu Nguyen WR121 John Williams

Down by the Riverside

1. Comparing the short story “Down by the Riverside” to another short story “Big Boy Leaves Home”, we see a lot of similarities. First of all, for the plot of the two stories, black men were both involved in trouble with white men. The two stories revolved around black people being absurdly treated unfairly by white people. The two protagonists of the stories ended up shooting the white people and that was where the stories began. Hadn’t it been for the obduracy and the ridiculous imperiousness of the white, those incidents wouldn’t have taken place. The two protagonists then went through series of heartbreaking and breathtaking moments; they were hunted like animals by the white people. However, the protagonist from “Down by the Riverside”, Mann, was executed at the end of the story while Big Boy got away freely. Both “Big Boy Leaves Home” and “Down by the Riverside” are told in the 3rd person point of view.

2. The most noticeable dilemma that Mann faced was having to rowed in a stolen boat that he originally didn’t want to but he had to since his wife was at risk of dying. Mann determinedly not to get on the stolen boat, he knew it was morally wrong to use stolen object and he would put himself and his family in danger of getting killed by the white people when they found out he was using their boat. But for the sake of his wife’s life, he had to go against his conscience. Another dilemma that would also contribute to his execution at the end of the story was the killing of Mr. Heartfield. Killing of a white

person would result in the killer’s death sentence under any circumstances. Mann didn’t intentionally want to kill Mr. Heartfield, he was desperate looking for help for his wife and he said he would return the boat to its owner. We can see the moment he got into the so called “conversation” with white people, he was trying to explain his situation and sought for sympathy from the white people. I’d say he would promise to return the boat to the Heartfield after he was done saving his wife. Sadly, he didn’t get a chance to speak out as the white men were so aggressive. The white man initiated the shooting. Fearful for his life and his family’s, he shot back to defense and he killed Mr. Heartfield.

3. The story is told in the 3rd person point of view

4. The first example of folklore was the song sung by Murray before Mann shoved off. I would say this song probably has been passed through generations of generations. It represented the hope of the African American community, the hope of the war between the white and black people would end and everyone would live peacefully together. The second example of folklore was the belief of the black people in God. African Amercian had been segregated for quite a long time, they were left alone. They believe in fairness created by God and believe that God will always be there with them. Therefore, African American are grateful to God for his blessings on their lives and they pray everytime they meet trouble, for God will guide their way. Before departing for the hospital, Mann and his family kneeled down to pray to God. The last example, which is also related to religion, was when the Richard Wright uses the narrative voice to speak about God, “Lawd Gawd Almighty”.

5. Richard Wright wrote this story to once again to tell about the unfairness and the

outrageousness created by the white people. They made themselves superior over black people and therefore created conflicts between the two races. During the reading, reader can clearly see the problems were all initiated by white people. Therefore, I conclude that Wright wrote this story in order to let the reader, whose race doesn’t matter, know the pain and the problem the African Americans were facing back then during the segregated period. One will never admit their faults unless they are given testimonies, brutal testimonies....