Richard Wright, American Hunger, and the Communist Party

Richard Wright's flirtation with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) was not based
 on idealism, strong beliefs, or rational judgment, but rather on Wright's need
 to take off his mask and share his intelligence with the world. We see no
 evidence that Wright looked to Communism because of its ideals. Instead,
 Wright made his political foray because of his yearning to break out of his
 shell and reveal his real self to others.

Richard Wright lived most of his life through a mask. Rarely letting down his
 guard: 

The essence of the irony of the plight of the Negro in America, to me, is that
 he is doomed to live in isolation...[1] (p. 14)

Though I had fled the pressure of the South, my outward conduct had not
 changed. I had been schooled to present an unalteringly smiling face and
 I continued to do so despite the fact that my environment allowed more open
 expression. I hid my feelings and avoided all relationships with whites that
 might cause me to reveal them.[1] (p. 14-15) 


Here we see that Wright felt that he is trapped behind his mask and could not
 express his feelings. Unlike some, Wright actually did have strong emotions
 as we learn earlier: "All my life I had done nothing but feel and cultivate
 my feelings [1]" (p. 13). Even though Wright was now in the North, he could
 not even engage in an intelligent conversation with anyone besides himself
 because of a combination of societal pressures and his own inner anxieties.
 Bradley [3] concurs: 

These observations seems to reflect more than they illuminate; to me they
 reveal a man horribly crippled, uneasy with emotion, unaccustomed to warmth.
 The causes of that crippling are not totally clear. (p. 70) 

The illness that Wright suffered was not one with an easy cure. Though the
 symptoms were apparent enough for even Wright to notice, Bradley [3] points
 out that the causes were not clear. Societal pressures, like the underlying
 racism in Chicago, may have been a large factor. In Chicago, in the 1920's
 and 1930's, if you were black and you were lucky, maybe you would have the
 opportunity to become a mailman. If you were black, you could not dream.
 You could not even dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Even
 today, Jesse Jackson has said that Chicago is the most racist city in 
 America. 

Wright was confused and unable to understand his inner emotions. Withdrawn,
 Wright longed to open up to someone, but he did not have that someone. 


I still had no friends, casual or intimate, and felt the need for none. I had
 developed a self sufficiency that kept me distant from others, emotionally
 and psychologically...Emotionally, I was withdrawn from the objective world;
 my desires floated loosely within the walls of my consciousness, contained
 and controlled.

...Even though I reacted deeply, my true feelings raced along underground,
 hidden.[1] (p. 20)

Wright claimed that he had no need for friends but we know he only lied to
 himself. People as intelligent as Richard Wright need an outlet for
 conversation and others to stimulate their minds. Wright contradicts
 himself less than a page later: 


I did not act in this fashion deliberately; I did not prefer this kind
 of relationship with people. I wanted a life in which there was a constant
 oneness of feeling with others, in which the basic emotions of life were
 shared...But I knew that no such thing was possible in my environment.[1]
 (p. 20-21) [italics mine] 

Wright did not just want "a life in which there was a constant oneness of
 feelings with others," he needed such a life. He had a strong need for
 other people and for a sense of belonging even though he initially acted
 in the opposite fashion. To live this life, Wright had to believe in
 something larger than himself. Wright had to associate himself with a
 higher being. Because he had already discounted God and religion, Wright
 gravitated toward the Communist party. 

Wright joined the Party not because he admired socialism, but because he
 needed people and because it was a vehicle for him to cultivate his writing.
 Through the John Reed Club, Wright was able to show the world, or at least
 other people associated with the Communist Party USA, his intellect and
 insight. 

Not only did Wright not believe in Communism, but he made little effort to
 learn what the Party really stood for. Wright had no trouble studying
 Dostoevski or Sociology to cultivate his writings, but he could not find
 the time to read Marx or Moore or even to pick up a newspaper or an
 encyclopedia and learn about Trotsky. 

... I stammered, trying not to reveal my ignorance of politics, for I had
 not followed the details of Trotsky's fight against the Communist party
 of the Soviet Union ...[1] (p. 81) 

McCall [5] points out that Wright had little in common with the Communist
 party: 

Doctrinal differences don't matter; ideas themselves scarcely matter; all
 that counts is the blessed new feeling of belonging [5] (p. 363) 

What did Wright believe? What were his political views? Did he even agree
 with socialism? American Hunger does not make any attempt to answer these
 questions. Wright believed in the individual rather than the collective
 body, an idea foreign to most members of the Communist party in those days.
 The Communists were not looking to cultivate free thinkers - people who
 they felt belonged to the bourgeoisie. Wright believed that one could not
 be free until one could freely think. CPUSA was looking for men and women
 of action, they were looking for soldiers. Wright was a man of action, but
 he was not a soldier. A soldier shoots without asking "why?" A true member
 of the Communist Party did not read books, a real member worked in the
 factory by day and led protest marches by night. The Communists had two
 basic essentials: food and shelter. Wright needed something else - he
 needed books. 

The Party demanded that Wright subordinate his artistic goals for their
 needs. Members attacked Wright's intellect as no good for their cause,
 a cause that Wright either did not believe in or did not fully understand.
 But Wright made a conscious, calculated, and rational decision to join the
 Communist party. Wright used the Party as an umbilical cord to nurse his
 writing and nurture his soul. Wright wanted to use CPUSA to make friends
 and reveal his thoughts. Wright, however, had no intention of being used
 by the Communist party - especially by those who did not appreciate his
 talents. American Hunger reveals that Wright was mistrusted because he
 was deemed an "intellectual." At one point Wright attends his first
 Communist unit meeting and his serious report is followed by laughter
 by the rank and file of those in attendance: 

During the following days I had learned through some discreet questioning
 that I had seemed a fantastic element to the black Communists. I was
 shocked to hear that I, who had been only to grammar school, had been
 classified as an intellectual. What was an intellectual? I had never
 heard the word used in the sense in which it was applied to me. I had
 thought that they might refuse me on the grounds that I was not
 politically advanced; I had thought they might place me on probation;
 I had thought they might say I would have to be investigated. But they
 had simply laughed.[1] (p. 77) 

The John Reed Club filled a large void which allowed Wright's writing to
 feel and flourish. The Club was why Wright had associated himself with
 CPUSA in the first place - it was a forum for thoughtful discussion and
 it provided outlets for writers to publish their work. Wright's Communist
 foray was all but over after the Communists decided to eliminate the John
 Reed Club in the New York Conference: 

Debate started and I rose and explained what clubs had meant to young writers
 and begged for their continuance. I sat down amid silence. Debate was closed.
 The vote was called. The room filled with uplifting hands to dissolve. Then
 came the call for those who disagreed and my hand went up alone.[1] (p. 98) 

Wright used the Communist party as a tool to dislodge the mask he had worn
 for so long. Initially, CPUSA liberated him and enabled Wright to express
 his feelings. However, it soon became apparent that the Party wanted to go
 further and replace Wright's old mask with a new mask of their creation.
 They sought to apply a filter to his mind which would sift through Wright's
 thoughts and only allow him to express such feelings that were in line with
 Communist mentality. Leibowitz [4] agrees: 

Any authority that usurps his liberty and brushes aside his feelings is
 intolerable to Wright4 [ ](p. 351) 

Wright had come too far to be pressured to give up his individuality. And
 his sense of himself, which initially attracted him to the Party, is what
 led to his Communist demise. Ironically, Wright ultimately left the Party
 for the same reason he joined it - to reach his artistic goals. 

An invisible wall was building slowly between me and the people with whom
 I had cast my lot. Well, I would show them that all men who wrote books
 were not their enemies. I would communicate the meaning of their lives
 to people whom they could not reach; then, surely, my intentions would
 merit their confidence... I had to win the confidence of people who had
 been mislead so often that they were afraid of anybody who differed from
 themselves. Yet deep down I feared their militant ignorance.[1] (p. 78) 

Leibowitz [4] remarks: 

That the Communists did not respect individuality wounded Wright in his
 secret spot: his ambition to be a writer.[4] (p. 349) 

Wright probably would have never become a great writer if not for his foray
 into Communism. The John Reed Club, the intelligent discussions, and even
 his experience with petty politics gave him the tools, the vision, and the
 confidence to write. Wright's entire life was destroyed by the Communist
 party in a way, however. During the Red Scare, he chose to leave the
 country rather than testify against those people who had oppressed him.
 Wright's exodus from the United States ultimately lead to his life's
 decline, 

The Communist party has been a mainstay with many of the great African-
 American writers. As recent as the 1980's, Angela Davis was an active
 Communist. Davis, a great writer, ran for Vice President under the
 CPUSA ticket both in 1980 and in 1984. However, even Davis' involvement
 became tragic. Gus Hall, the Communist party boss, purged her from the
 party in 1991 after she complained about racial quotas.[6] 

As for Wright, he wrote half a book in the prime of his life about his
 experience with Communism. His political experiences and traumas left a
 profound mark on his conscious. It is as though he thought he found
 himself only to realize that his search was far from over: 

Humbly now, with no vaulting dream of achieving a vast unity, I wanted
 to try to build a bridge of words between me and the world outside,
 that world which seemed so distant and elusive that it seemed unreal.[1]
 (p. 135) 


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Appendix - Bibliography 

1. Wright, Richard. American Hunger. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1977. 

2. Reilly, John M. (p. 213-227). Critical Essays on Richard Wright. Edited
   by Yoshinobu Hakutani. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1982. 

3. Bradley, David. "American Hunger (1977)," (p. 69-71). Richard Wright - 
   Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
   and K.A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993 

4. Leibowitz, Herbert. " Arise, Ye Pris'ners of Starvation': Richard 
   Wright's Black Boy and American Hunger," (p. 328-358). Richard Wright - 
   Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
   and K.A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993 

5. McCall, Dan. "Wright's American Hunger," (p. 359-368). Richard Wright - 
   Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. 
   and K.A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993 

6. "California Honors Communist." Campus Fall 1995, Volume 7: 10-11