The Man Who Lived Underground (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Richard Wright
- First Published: 1942
- Type of Plot: Psychological
- Time of Work: The 1930's
- Setting: A metropolitan area in the United States
- Principal Characters: Fred Daniels, Lawson, Murphy, Johnson
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, United States or Americans, Blacks, Suicide, Murder or homicide, Police, 1930’s, Inner cities or inner-city life, City life, Undertakers or undertaking, Subterranean or underground regions
- Locales: United States
The Story
After Fred Daniels, a young black man unjustly accused of murdering a woman, is forced into signing a confession, he escapes from the police by going underground—into the sewer system beneath the city—where a series of adventures leads him to self-knowledge, maturity, and, ultimately, death.
Daniels's adventures include visits to various places that he observes through chinks in the floors of the buildings above him, the first of which is a black church. From his protected perch, Daniels watches the choir in their white robes singing and asking God's mercy....
[The entire page is 1511 words long]
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