A Study Of The Major Themes In Wright's The Outsider

Richard Wright was one of the most important Afro-American novelists in the twentieth century. Living and writing during a period in which blacks needed a spokesman, Wright has been most frequently celebrated as an"insider", a representative for his people. And with the publication of Uncle Tom's Children, Native Son and Black Boy, he did see himself as a representative for the Blacks. In these works, Wright presents honest and cruel stories of Afro-Americans'life. Many critics have suggested that these stories are his best works.The Outsider, one of his late works, is probably the most controversial novel by Wright. It has been widely criticized for Wright's attempt to write a novel of ideas. And critics believe that Wright's exile to France makes him detached from his own land and that The Outsider marks a decline in his literary career. There are some other critics who see this novel as a good experiment. However, in China, little attention has been paid to this book written in Wright's late years. My thesis attempts to make a study on the themes of The Outsider, aiming to re-examine this novel in a more objective way. This thesis is divided into six parts: The first part is a brief introduction to Richard Wright's literary place and a plot summary of The Outsider. A brief review on the academic studies of the novel is also made to make clear the aim of this thesis.The first chapter discusses the theme of Communism in The Outsider. In the novel, Wright strongly denounces the US Communist ideology which is power-oriented. It is clear that Wright's disillusionment with Communism makes him turn to existentialism.The second chapter discusses the theme of existentialism in The Outsider. Because of the poverty and emotional insecurity in his childhood, Wright has an abiding sense of existential anguish which is included in the course of his writing career. We can see Wright has made an existential treatment of his characters in his early works before his contact with the French existentialists. With the influence of existentialism, The Outsider was explicitly inspired by and written as an existential discourse.The third chapter deals with the theme of love in The Outsider. In many ways, Cross Damon reminds us of Meursault, the protagonist of Camus' The Stranger. Damon's existential indifference is similar to that of Meursault's. Yet, in the face of love, Damon is driven by "hot impulse" and egotistical desires.The fourth chapter deals with the theme of death in The Outsider. Damon kills four men and is responsible for Eva's suicide, and in the end he is murdered by two men. All the deaths result from Damon's desire for love, marriage, equality and freedom to which he cannot remain indifferent. The ultimate death delivers Damon from an aimless and meaningless life and shows that total freedom is impossible to attain and death is better than a life which is full of misery.The last part comes as the conclusion of the whole thesis. The author of this thesis believes that The Outsider, as one of the early American existential novels, has its own merits and strength.