Category: mississippi literature

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The Undercurrents of Race in Tennessee William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

Recently, I taught Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and noticed, as I reread it, the undercurrents of race that appear throughout. Over the next couple of posts, I want to explore these aspects of “playing in the dark” that buttress the story of the Politt family’s decline as Big Daddy and everyone else comes face to face with his mortality. … Read More The Undercurrents of Race in Tennessee William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”

“When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” in Richard Wright’s “Long Black Song”

As I reread Richard Wright’s “Long Black Song” from Uncle Tom’s Children (1938), I again thought about the role of music in Wright’s work. I have written about this before in relation to the epigraph for Wright’s collection and in relation to the song that appears in “Big Boy Leaves Home.” Today, I want to briefly look at the way that the hymn “When … Read More “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” in Richard Wright’s “Long Black Song”