Jim And Olaf In 'Big Black Good Man'

The short story “Big Black Good Man” shows how a character, Olaf, is faced with an unknown person and assumes the worst of this man because of how he looks even though Olaf has never done it before. The short story is set in the late 1950s but Olaf is said to have had an open mind to everyone because he sees them on a daily bases until he meets Jim as he wanted to stay at the hotel for his sixtieth birthday. As such we see the story through Olaf's eyes for the point of view so we do not know what exactly Jim wants with the hotel and all we do know is that he is big, strong, and a sailor. Later in the story, we get to see that Jim is also a fun and nice guy who likes to mess with Olaf and will take his bags to his room but Jim also trusts Olaf

Jim is a big man whose arms were compared to that of a gorilla and is six feet tall but he has a nice personality while Olaf is the night porter who is just a normal average man but gets easily scared by Jim due to his size. It is shown when Richard Wright states ”The giant still grinned, then tossed what seemed the same suitcase upon Olaf’s sofa and bent over; he zipped it open with a sweep of his clawlike hand and rummaged in it… Olaf stiffened, his right hand clawing blindly for the drawer where the gun was kept. But the giant was quick“ (216). This quote shows the character's personalities where Olaf was scared the whole time that they were with each other while Jim was looking for something for Olaf to have as said a little later by Jim that the shirt was a perfect fit for Olaf. Thus, Olaf was seeing Jim as a giant with animal-like features who might harm him making Olaf reach for a gun to stop Jim but by the end of the story, Olaf learned not to be scared of Jim because he was a big guy who towered over him and to like Jim for his personality as he is a good