Man Who Lived Underground, The

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As he looks at his cave, Fred thinks to himself that anything can be considered what’s “right” based on “the world as men had made it”. Then, as he listens to the radio, a melancholy song plays and the news reports what’s happening on the war front.

In his next visit, Daniels comes on a movie theater. Like the embalming room, this place offers him a boon—sandwiches belonging to an old man working in the coal bin, as well as more tools for his effort to transform the cave into his lodging. Finally, this devastatinginquiryinto oppression and delusion, this timelesstour de force, emerges in full,the work Wright was most passionate about, as he explains in the profoundly illuminating essay, ‘Memories of My Grandmother,’ also published here for the first time.This blazing literary meteor should land in every collection.” These two dreams tell us a lot about Fred’s state of mind at this point. He is deeply fearful of the police, and he is relieved to be seen as dead or something fearful if it means being left alone. Mentally, he has separated himself from “the world that had rejected him”. The incident with the police showed him that he had no place in that world.

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Based on Fred’s repeated entreaties to the police to please call the Reverend of his church to vouch for him, we know that Fred’s faith was a large part of him, so it being gone reflects a huge schism in his life. It couldn’t be more relevant’: the unseen Richard Wright novel finally getting its due by David Smith for The Guardian April 22, 2021. This is a summary for the novel The Man Who Lived Underground, which was published in 2021. (This is NOT a summary for the short story version of this which had previously been published.) Part One Still, despite his tears, his nihilism wins out and he walks away. He thinks that there’s nothing he can do, although he could easily stop this. It would be the “right” thing to do, except that he’s been shown that there is no such thing as right and there isn’t a connection between doing what’s “right” and having the right result.

Instead, he goes up some steps to a door and sees that it’s a radio shop. Fred decides to go in and take a radio, thinking he can set it up in his cave. Still, Fred wants to get into the room with the safe, so he starts chipping away at the wall in the safe’s direction. The Man Who Lived Underground” is a previously-unpublished novel by famed author Richard Wright (author of Native Son). This short novel was originally rejected for publication seventy years ago and now presented posthumously. At the station, a policeman asks him what he wants, but Fred rambles a little and talks about being in basements. The officers think he’s crazy. Finally, they figure out that Fred wants to talk to Lawson.

Enthralling. . . . You could say that the book’s release now is timely, given that it contains an account of police torture. . . .But that feels false because Wright’s story would have been just as relevant if it had been released 10 years ago or 30, 50, or 80—when he composed it. . . .Maybe, then, it’s more accurate to think of The Man Who Lived Underground as timeless rather than timely.” — The New Republic

When he falls asleep, he has a nightmare of being in a body of water and seeing a woman with a baby asking for help. He takes the baby from her just before the woman disappears under the water. Holding the baby, he’s unable to dive to save the woman. Finally, he puts the baby down in the water to find that it floats. He goes into to save the woman, but cannot find her. When he resurfaces, he sees the baby is gone too. Then, he realizes he can no longer stand in the water and is choking on water as well. This is the first time this story has been published in its original, uncut version and thus, presented uncensored as the author had intended it to be. Previously, during the author’s lifetime, it was only published in short story form which eliminated much of the more powerful and revelatory scenes, especially at the beginning and the end. It’s not difficult to see why a publisher was reluctant to see this full length version go to print when it was first written, considering those times. But it is fortunate the author’s wishes to have it published in complete form are finally being honored in the present. When he arrives at the station, the cops ask why he is there. Fred responds that he is “looking for the men,” but the police don’t understand. They ask where he came from. “I come out from under the ground,” Fred tells them. One cop says they should send him to a psychiatric institution; others joke that he’s insane. Though state violence has freed Fred from the illusion that work would make his life meaningful and abiding by the law would prevent him from becoming a criminal, he struggles to explain those lessons to others. 29

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One of the most horrifying slim masterpieces I've read in a long time, I did not know that this novel was once published as a short story by Mr. Wright. Now fully restored as a novel, it is a frightening novel of fear, hopelessness, schizophrenia and the need to be seen, rather than be othered. As I listened to this audiobook, I kept thinking that it was important to have this published. However, I wasn’t enjoying it very much. I preferred the parts of the story that bookended Fred’s time underground. This was previously published as a short story and maybe I would have liked that more. Included in the audiobook, and ebook, is an essay titled “Memories of my Grandmother” which ties certain of the author’s experiences to the book. I can’t say that the essay helped me much. Despite it having been written many decades ago in the ‘40’s, never has this story been more relevant than in today’s world. And as the author had hoped at one point, this story is now accompanied by a second one in which he details his inspiration for the story and how his grandmother fit into it. He was also inspired quite a bit by surrealism which very much shows. At times, I didn’t know if what I was reading was really happening or was some feverish nightmare, waking or otherwise. It kept me off balance, but never tipped me over into the absurd, except when causing me to reflect on how racial injustice during that time is still just as systemic today, and how citizens can be ripped so easily from society, this inflicted upon them by its own institutions that no longer protect, but turn on its own.