Down By The Riverside: Nature vs Jim Crow
We can see examples of how the Jim Crow south intensifies the experience of the Mississippi flooding for black people throughout “Down By The Riverside,” and speaks to how the deep racism in the south exacerbated the tragedy experienced. In “Down By The Riverside” there are two forces outside of the narrator's control: the force of nature and the force of racism. Throughout the story, the two powers heavily affect Mann, with the force of racism eventually overpowering him at the end of the story. As a black naturalist story, the power of nature features prominently in the plot of “Down By The Riverside,” and is the driving factor for most of the story. I think the most prominent scene we see this in is the scene where Mann goes to work on shoring up the levee. It’s right after an emotionally complicated scene for Mann, with his wife and unborn child dying in the hospital directly before. However, when a white man sees Mann, he demands that he go to work on shoring up the levee wit...