Obstruction of the Subaltern Voices in Richard Wright’s The Man Who Lived Underground

Subedi, Surendra

Obstruction of the Subaltern Voices in Richard Wright’s The Man Who Lived Underground

Publisher

Department of English

Abstract

The outstanding issue raised by Richard Wright in his novella The Man Who Lived Under grounddeals with the social and racial conflict. The tussle indeed creates a sort of marginalization on the part of the blacks deprived of the social and political rights. Social deprivation and racial exploitation on the part of the blacks pushes them to the situation where they have no space to create their identity and a way for liberation. The doubally marginalized people like Fred, the main character of the novella are victimized due the lack of their access to the power. As a result the voice of those subalterns is obstructed. Fred Daniels, the central character, who stands on the behalf of the entire black race, makes efforts to speak against the white hegemony and tribulations but his voice is not heard. Despite his innocence he is blamed that he has committed crime which is not substantial. Rather it is just the mark of the white domination and the predisposed mentality of the white race. Since the theory subaltern has a wide-ranging wing, it covers up all sorts of suppression and ill- treatments done to the blacks by the whites. Implicitly Wright’s attempt is tilted towards expressing the agonies of the marginalized subaltern groups of people by showing the contemporary plight of the blacks through portrayal of Fred Daniels who undergoes numerous hideous moments. That obstructs the victory of the vibrant subaltern character.