The Outsider (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Richard Wright
- First Published: 1953
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Naturalism
- Time of Work: 1951
- Setting: Chicago, Illinois, and New York City
- Principal Characters: Cross Damon, Bob Hunter, Ely Houston, Gil Blount, Eva Blount, Jack Hilton, Herndon
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Freedom, Communism or communists, Suicide, Murder or homicide, Escapes, 1940’s, Argentina or Argentineans, Existentialism
- Locales: New York, NY, Chicago, IL, Newark, NJ
The Novel
Cross Damon’s wintry search for meaningfulness and happiness falls into five stages, omnisciently narrated in books of the novel entitled “Dread,” “Dream,” “Descent,” “Despair,” and “Decision.” By the time Cross reaches the fifth stage, no decision can stem the worsening of his life that is suggested by the first four titles.
When the story opens, Cross dreads everything about his intolerable life, which quickly comes to a crisis under pressure from his fifteen-year-old pregnant girlfriend, his abused wife, and his moralistic mother. Then...
[The entire page is 3416 words long]
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