Chicago 1930s and R. Wright's Thesis

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What makes the Man Who Went to Chicago an especially effective culminating story for Eight Men is the way in which it transforms these motifs to generate new and strikingly affirmative meanings" (155). This transformation relates to the manner in which the story's protagonist manages to learn from his series of menial jobs and use this newfound knowledge to his advantage. Moreover, these experiences provide the crucible in which the protagonist's character is forged and he is able to rise above the meanness and pettiness that exemplify his peers. In this regard, Butler reports that, "He is careful to reject the self-defeating strategies used by his co-workers in dealing with the hospital such as the 'sullen silence' (193) adopted by Bill and the pointless violence employed by Brand and Cooke" (155).

Furthermore, the protagonist's series of jobs in the hospital, post office, dishwasher, and insurance salesman for a Negro burial society provide him with a "new kind of education" (185) that allows him to develop a "new faith" (191) in American society, and one that is also reflective of Jurgus's conclusions about life in the Jungle.

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The episodes suggest that during the 1930s - like today, the real heroes in American society were those who did not give up hope, who went to jobs when they could find them that they did not particularly like because the kids were hungry and needed shoes, and who overcame these challenges to their very survival in ways that built up their character rather than tearing it down.

Conclusion

The research showed that the 1930s were a tough period in American history, with many people out of work and an economy devastated by the Great Depression. Notwithstanding the modest inroads made by New Deal initiatives, the 1930s were hard on some people more than others, and it is reasonable to conclude that most black Americans experienced these hardships more than their white counterparts and this certainly appeared to be the case with the characters in Richard Wright's short stories in Eight Men. Today, the personal accounts of these experiences related in Wright's short story, "The Man Who Went to Chicago," provide some valuable insights into what things were like 80 years ago and how much things.....

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