The naturalism of Richard Wright: An examination of the naturalistic imagery in Wright's short fiction

Abstract

This thesis investigates the naturalism, including animal and natural imagery and metaphor, dehumanization of characters, devolution of characters, etc., within Richard Wright's short fiction in order to determine whether Wright's early naturalistic philosophy continued throughout his career. Through a chronological examination of the naturalistic aspects in several stories in both Uncle Tom's Cabin and Eight Men, this investigation demonstrates that Wright maintained a consistent, naturalistic focus up to his last short story despite his involvement with French existentialists in the 1940s.