Race in Faulkner & Wright Book Review by hicaliber

In this article, the writer discusses racism and oppression, using two literary works by Richard Wright and William Faulkner. The writer shows that Dave's longing for a gun pervades Richard Wright's short story "The Man Who was Almost a Man." The writer points out that in this intense and tense coming-of-age story, Wright employs rich symbolism, most notably the emblem of a gun as a representation of the phallic power of manhood as well as the social power manhood entails. The writer notes that William Faulkner also demonstrates sensitivity to issues of class, race, and sexuality in his short story "That Evening Sun Go Down". Further, the writer maintains that although Faulkner wrote as a white man in the South, his story reveals chilling social and economic realities just as Wright's does.