1. I think Wright wrote the story through Olaf’s eyes, so the reader can see that even if a white man doesn’t say it that he knows what is going through a white man’s head when he sees a black man, and the prejudice that is still there. 2. During 1957 racism was there more so than it is now. He is expecting his readers to be racist while people and expects them to already favor Olaf and think the same way as him. 3. Olaf dislikes Jim because he is black and there is no other explanation. He dehumanizes him the minute Jim walks in the door saying, “its skin was so black that it had a bluish tint” (Wright 239). He does not even call Jim a man, Jim is it to him. He says the comment about Jim’s “intense blackness and ungainly bigness” (Wright 239) insulting him because he thinks he is better than Jim. Him being bigger than him and stronger than Olaf is not okay because Olaf is supposed to be the superior in this situation. 4. …show more content…
Jim yelling and being loud contributes to Olaf’s fears because he constantly thinks Jim yelling at him is him being combative and rude. Olaf is not justified at all in these reactions, he is stereotyping Jim. He is completely overreacting, and the end of the story proves that. 5. Jim’s name is almost never mentioned because Olaf refuses to acknowledge him as a human man. He calls Jim it, the big black giant, the monster even. They are meant to make the reader think that Jim is this monstrosity and he is just a