Themes, techniques, and genre are examined in this comparative analysis of these stories consisting of five pages with racism a primary focus. Four sources are cited in the bibliography. A five page paper which looks at the two works Black No More and Bright and Morning Star and compares the narratives in terms of genre, technique and themes, with regard to the way in which the two authors treat the themes of racial bigotry and discrimination within a predominantly white society. Bibliography lists 4 sources
Name of Research Paper File: JL5_JLwrightshuyler.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
The two works, Black No More by George Schuyler and Bright and Morning Star by
Richard Wright, deal with similar themes; prejudice, racial bigotry and the ways in which the victims of discrimination deal with and challenge the preconceptions and prejudices of the dominant culture.
However, the way in which the two authors handle the issues raised by their themes differs considerably, in terms of content, technique and genre.
In Black No More, Schuyler draws on the elements of science-fiction and social fantasy in order to develop a world in
which there will no longer any racism, because there are no longer any black people to be marginalized and discriminated against. His central character, Max, undergoes a scientific procedure which
renders him white: when news of the treatment becomes public, the offices of Dr Crookmore (Schuylers nomenclature is not particularly subtle) are overwhelmed by blacks who have decided that assimilating
is the best answer to the problems of discrimination, and before long the whole country is populated only by whites.
Secure in the knowledge that his origins are unknown, Max joins a white supremacist group and allies himself with their bigotry. Schuyler hits
out at what he sees as the hypocrisy of organisations such as the NAACP, accusing them of furthering their own interests and, in the course of so doing, allying themselves
with the white upper-class while those whom they are supposed to protect and advance the interests of are left to struggle against prejudice and violence as best they can.