The Short Story Of Olaf Jenson's Big Black Good Man

In the short story “Big Black Good Man”, we see a third-person narrator who tells the story from Olaf Jenson 's point of view. The story reflects the time it was written where race was common in society. In this story we can remind ourselves of little lessons that can be applied every day in life. In the beginning, Olaf was a good man of relaxation and satisfaction. Olaf makes a decision that changes his life. In the next year he finally finds closure. Things take a big turn when a big black man walks through the door of Olaf’s hotel. In the last line of Richard Wright’s short story “Big Black Good Man”, it indicates that Jim remained unaware of Olaf’s feelings toward him. Jim had no idea that Olaf was a deep-seated racial prejudice. Although

The man’s presence and manliness caught Olaf’s attention. A persons size and the color of his skin can be very intimidating, especially in 1957, when hatred was strong. He stared down the big black man to the tee. Things drastically changed when “the huge black thing that filled the doorway” (Wright, Konishi, & Wright, 1964) and entered the room. When the man asked for a room, Olaf immediately said yes but deeply wanted to refuse his request. Olaf felt insecure about the man as if to insult him. “He felt as though this man come here to... Remind him of how puny, tiny, weak and white he was” (Wright, Konishi, & Wright, 1964). In that time and moment, I thought that Olaf was weird in a way. We couldn’t tell if he had any self-esteem or if he just wanted to use that as an excuse to not like the man that just came through the door. When the man said he wanted a woman that night like all other sailors did, Olaf says “there’s no harm in that, but inside Olaf felt deep and strange, reluctant to call any of the women he sent to the men” (Wright, Konishi, & Wright, 1964). Olaf wants to warn Lena about the man 's size. He wanted to make sure Lena knew what she was getting herself into. Not only did Lena see the man but she also was very unconcerned about his bigness and blackness. They took Olaf by surprise. He was expecting Lena to say no and run off. Olaf is trying to perceive the intentions of the man but could now.

Since Olaf had very different intentions, he was caught by surprise of the big black man. Olaf was filled with braveness. He was ready to give the big black man something he was waiting for. The big black man walked in and surprised Olaf. He gave Olaf a shirt. Olaf then came to remembrance of the big black man placing his hand around his neck. His intentions of the man were very wrong. He never guessed that the man was actually measuring him for a shirt. Since the big black picked up Olaf’s intentions, he guessed that was the way Olaf would react in the end. Olaf’s judgmental aspect of the man was wrong all along and he felt bad because of it. Olaf accepted the shirts and “Olaf began to laugh hysterically” Wright, Konishi, & Wright, 1964.Online). Olaf began to notice that you cannot judge a book by it’s over. The big man’s intentions were nowhere near what Olaf was thinking. He now felt guilt for treating the man in such a harsh way. After the tension, fear, and the judgments left, “Olaf realized there was compassion in that stare that he had never seen”. Wright, Konishi, & Wright, 1964).