Lawd Today (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Richard Wright
- First Published: 1963
- Type of Plot: Contemporary black tragedy
- Time of Work: The 1930’s, sometime during the Great Depression
- Setting: Chicago
- Principal Characters: Jake Jackson, Lil, Al, Bob, Slim
- Genres: Long fiction, Naturalistic literature
- Subjects: African Americans, Racism, Antiheroes, 1930’s, Chicago, Domestic violence, Inner cities or inner-city life, Drinking or drunkenness, Postal service
- Locales: Chicago, IL
The Novel
Lawd Today opens with Jake Jackson rising out of bed, apparently after a night on the town. The day in question is Lincoln’s birthday, and throughout the day, no matter where Jake goes, radios haunt him with words from that president’s speeches and statements about the Great Emancipator—as though to remind Jake that he is the victim of another kind of slavery. Jake is caught in a web that entangles his soul. It will take much more than a presidential proclamation to set his spirit free.
From the beginning, Richard Wright lets the reader know that...
[The entire page is 2424 words long]
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