Yu Huang

ENG302
Dr. Young
Due date: 19th, Feb 2016
Violence, Sexuality and Southern Racism in The Long Dream
The Long Dream is the last novel of Richard Wright, written three years
before he died. The protagonist is a five-year-old black boy named Rex Tucker,
nicknamed Fishbelly. Fishbellys father, Tyree, is another main character of this
novel. He is a successful black businessman. He has many old rental properties, a
bawdy house where prostitutes and customers are black, and he has a partnership
with a rich black man named Dr. Bruce of The Grove. They own a dance hall
frequently visited by black people. This novel emphatically represents violence,
sexuality and southern racism.
When Fishbelly was a child, he often accidentally sees his fathers
copulation with an unknown woman in the storeroom of a funeral room, which
causes the sexual initiation of the five-year-old boy. Gradually, Fishbelly knows
the woman is his fathers mistress named Gloria. Fishbelly is curious about what
he sees with his father and Gloria. He does not want to look, but he cannot make

himself turn away. This makes the boy have a perverted complex dream in his later
life. He starts his sexual initiation from his father and the atmosphere that he lives
in, with his fathers mistress and black prostitutes from his fathers business, the
whorehouse.
Another big step of his maturation is his sexuality in relation. His father
Tyree takes him to a whorehouse run by his friend Maud. Mauds daughter Vera
becomes Fishbellys first sexual partner when he is 13 years old. Later, Tyree
congratulates his son in getting rid of his virginity, but counsels him to not keep
having sex with a particular girl and to try different types of girls, but avoid white
women so that he can avert some unnecessary trouble. There are two things that
showed up, sexuality and racism. Personally, I dont agree with Tyrees perverted
behaviortaking his son to the whorehouse to connive his son to have sex with
his friends daughter and telling his son to try diverse types of girls. Tyrees
whorehouse business and influence of his familys circumstance become his
sexuality initiation.
However, Fishbelly definitely doesnt listen to his father that he should
avoid having sex in relation with white women. He does the opposite of what
Tyree warned about. An example from this novel comes from a time he and his
friend go to a nightclub. He goes to a nightclub with his friend Zeke, picking an
almost-white girl named Gladys for himself and Zeke picks a yellow girl, without
his father knowing of their behavior. Gradually, Fishbelly spent more time staying

with Gladys instead of studying at school and often skips classes. Whats more,
Fishbelly advises Gladys to leave that prostitution house and sets her up in a house
as his woman. However, when she plans to go back to the prostitution house and
tell her manager, a destructive fire breaks out. Gladys and other people die in the
flames. At this point, it represents Fishbellys desire and curiosity for sexuality in
relation towards white people during his rebellion in adolescence. Meanwhile,
Gladys death implies that Fishbellys dream may not come trueblack peoples
dream cannot come true in a short time.
Another issue this novel talks about is violence, which becomes a big step
of Fishbellys maturity. A typical example is when his friend Chris is caught
because someone found that he had sex with a white prostitute, causing all sorts of
unnecessary trouble. He was killed at a very young age because of the racism
problem in southern America. He is castrated, lynched, and dragged by a fast
speed motorcycle through a couple streets in town. Later, Fishbelly and his friend
Zeke are caught because they go into a white mans house illegitimately, then a
white policeman threatens that he would castrate them. After they finish
inquisition from childrens court, they walk home and see a hurt, dying dog on the
street that was hit by a car. Fishbelly comes to the dog, kills it, and opens its body
and takes its main organs, then drags the dead dog to his dead friend Chris, to shift
the responsibility onto Chris for his murdering. I think Fishbellys murder is an
initial step of becoming mature in his life.

Tyree has his own issues regarding maturity and making his dream come
true. In the second part of this story, Fishbelly learned about his fathers mix-blood
mistress, Gloria, who acts kind of white. He doesnt allow his son to have sex
with white women but Tyree is captivated by white women or white features.
Tyree says, Son, I aint one to blow off my mouth, but I am a power amongst
niggers, but most of em dont know it(p189). Tyree thinks he is a power among
black people and white people respect him because he is a successful businessman.
He asks his son to help him collect rent and bribes white policemen to make black
people of the town to go to jail. He continues saying, White folks respect me,
Fish. Ok, now, on every Satday night, about two oclock in the morning, you
collect from Maud Williams. Shes going to give you a hundred and twenty
dollars. Twenty dollars of that is her rent. The other hundred is for the police and
us. Fifty goes to the chief of police. We keep fifty (p190). At these points, I think
Tyree is challenging Southern racism more or less. He has sexuality in relation
with his white mistress, which is rebellion towards southern racism. He makes
black people go to jail, which I think is a silent and cold violence.
Like The Black Boy by Richard Wright, this story begins with Fishbellys
childhood period and talks about Fishbellys growing and life. This book is
focusing on violence, sexuality, and Southern racism. In depth, this book reflects
on black peoples dream towards America, against racism through violence to gain

equality and make their living better. The life of the black people seems like long
term struggling and its hard to see the ending.