The Outsider

by Richard Wright

"Wright presents a compelling story of a black man's attempt to escape his past and start anew in Harlem. Cross Damon is a man at odds with society and with himself, a man who hungers for peace but who brings terror and destruction wherever he goes.

As Maryemma Graham writes in her Introduction to this edition, with its restored text established by the Library of America, "The Outsider is Richard Wright's second installment in a story of epic proportions, a complex master narrative designed to show American racism in raw and ugly terms ... The stories of Bigger Thomas ... and Cross Damon bear an uncanny resemblance to many contemporary cases of street crime and violence. There is also a prophetic note in Wright's construction of the criminal mind as intelligent, introspective, and transformative."

In addition to the Introduction by Maryemma Graham, this edition includes a notes section by Arnold Rampersad."

Genres: Fiction, Classics, African American, Race, Literature, American, Literary Fiction

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1953

About the author

Richard Nathaniel Wright was an African-American author of powerful, sometimes controversial novels, short stories and non-fiction. Much of his literature concerned racial themes. His work helped redefine discussions of race relations in America in the mid-20th century.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Lisa (NY) · Rating 5 out of 5]

[4.5] Once again Richard Wright has blown my mind. The Outsider is the third novel I've read of his and like Native Son and Black Boy, it has catapulted me into a terrifying, uncomfortable world. Twenty-six year old Damon Cross is trapped in Chicago and escapes to a double life in Harlem, twisting his existentialist beliefs into justification for murder. He is an outsider in the white world, the black community, within his own family and in the communist party.

This novel is a portrait of an alienated young man grappling with the meaning of life, a searing indictment of racism, a critique of the exploitive communist party of the 1950s and a suspenseful thriller. There are pages in the last quarter of the book that are dominated by monologues of characters exchanging their beliefs i.e. existentialism vs. communism. I zoned out during these. Otherwise I was on the edge of my seat.

[The Immersion Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

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I must admit, I unknowingly stood unprepared as this book emotionally and essentially intruded upon me. I now feel an acute fear in realizing the damage. It will likely haunt me, or dictate any future understanding I have of myself, and may signify a definitive point in my everlasting development. Forgive me, as the following will not implicate the kind of perversity which this work played in my mind. I have to embrace it before you can. And this may never come to pass.

History will undoubtedly memorialize Richard Wright, alongside Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, etc, as one who speaks for the scorned and neglected in America. Their experiences as black intellectuals beckons them to dictate their ideas through the perspective of their lives. In a sense, their stories and ideas symbolize the plight of the marginalized, the systemic outcast, the undesired - the proverbial black sheep, a cliche indicative of more than just the color of its wool. But again, this is not a perspective of transcendence, since cultural heritage should be gloriously celebrated, proudly embraced and joyously proclaimed. Yet understanding this experience holistically, as an experience shared, in varying degrees, by many outsiders, leads to a communal bliss of brotherhood discovered in the depths of despair and hatred.

Of course, America acknowledges these outsiders, yet in most cases they choose to confer a comforting identity upon them. Insiders mechanically grind through life oblivious to the true consciousness of these people. Why? Because the insider desires a bearable and clean conscience; not the kind of conscience free of guilt, but the kind of conscience blissfully ignorant of the existence of outsiders who feel disenfranchised in a world preaching brotherhood and equality.

Wright compacts the psyche of the outsider into his main character, Cross Damon, who, in the very fabric of his name, embodies a dualistic conflict of good and evil. Yet Cross disregards the pretense of good and evil, bars caging the human psyche, and seizes his desire for a mold-shattering freedom. Rather than good, there exists himself, and rather than evil, there exists the world. And vice versa. Because of his disillusionment, his enlightened vision into the nature of man's worldly existence, he learns to hate both that which lies within him and that which the powerful constructed around him. He needs neither angel nor demon to aid him. He would rather live without needing them.

Like Dostoevsky, Wright possesses a keen insight into the psyche of his characters. Native Son struck the world dumb as it witnessed the psychological depth of a man we might have carelessly called a simple beast. Now Cross Damon, notably unconcerned with the color of his skin, exhibits the psychological ache of a man outside the accepted and encouraged processes of thought and existence. If "man is nothing in particular...", a characteristic feared by man, a reality hidden behind and compensated by the constructs of civilization and her systems, Cross seeks meaning by abandoning the imprisoning perspectives of institutionalized marginalization and embraces the full potential of life uninhibited. Insiders seek power and spend their days maintaining it. Cross seeks meaning and life; the potential of which men fear because it cannot be overpowered and controlled.

Throughout the story, Cross rarely plans events and circumstances. He simply reacts to them. One of the most devastating blows to his psyche occurs when he realizes how his actions represent an insider's will to power. Cross' life is not a crusade, but a will to live; and live fully. Yet along his journey of actionable existentialism he suffers mightily. His life regurgitates the horrors of his existence onto every new circumstance. Then he wades in the simmering bile as his soul caramelizes. The conflict of Self and World wage a brutal campaign simply because Cross desires freedom from the effects of an outsider's status. But in pursuing this dream he realizes the inescapable connectedness of men and the world, how men constitute the world and the world constitutes men, and how even the conscious outsider, desiring freedom from the yokes of religion, social and political aspirations, civil promises, cannot stand loneliness. Whatever meaning Cross discovers rests in the ironic connectedness of people; people who seek nothing more than the organization of life and a will to power.

What fate awaits the outsider? Perhaps a choice. To yearn for the enslavement of institutionalized illusion and exist, or to find purpose and freedom and live, though perhaps alone. The outsider either suffers an ignorant consciousness of the world around him, or an awakened, damning consciousness of the soul within himself and how it cannot exist as fully human within a system bent on power and afraid of its people's own potential and propensity toward life.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in college as part of an American lit class. Until then, I didn't realize how naive and sheltered a life I must've led. This book had a profound impact on my consciousness of what is racism in the US.

I had only known racism in the context of my less than two decades of life in how it pertained to my family and me. I'd seen it in action, but only from the perspective of an Asian immigrant in a very small, almost entirely white, lower middle class municipality. I'd encountered some racial slurs in Brooklyn, but I didn't understand them. And then we moved to the suburbs of NJ when I was eight. For ten years, I was told to go back to my country, interrogated about what and where Korea was on the map, told by veterans that they'd served in the Korean War and was expected to know what that meant (I really had no awareness because my parents refused to talk about it), and only ever temporarily befriended by people who wanted to use me for my homework or to cheat off of me on a test.

Even when I went to college, the first two years covered my graduation requirements and most of it was surface level analytical thinking - it was to ensure we had a broad education of the liberal arts basics. I took this American literature class after declaring my majors, one of which was English literature. It was a pivotal moment for me to realize how different racism is to people outside my own demographics. While the book took place in the 50s, I was able to recognize how little had changed since then, once my eyes and my mind opened up to listening to accounts from my fellow students. This book and the other works we read by Richard Wright (Native Son and Black Boy) are largely responsible for my internal sense of justice, why I seek activism and antiracism, why I donate to the causes I do, and why I vote the way I do in every election at every level of government.

This is the same review I'll be leaving for the other two books mentioned above. And I really need to reread all of them soon!

[Nood-Lesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Io non so neppure quello che faccio, infatti non quello che voglio io faccio, ma quello che detesto"

Chiesi che mi inviassero l'elenco dei libri lasciati dal defunto Cross Damon. Li ricevetti prima di sera ed ebbi di cosa essere soddisfatto. Avevo trovato la prima vera traccia ed erano i suoi Nietzsche, Hegel, Jaspers, Heidegger, Husserl, Kierkgaard, Dostoevskji.. Capii d'avere a che fare con un uomo avvelenato da idee malsane".
Al centro dell'opera di Wright c'è l'individuo con le sue pulsioni. È interessante come quell'individuo venga contrapposto alla società che lo ospita. Wright militò nel partito comunista da cui si distaccò nel 1942. Le impronte di quel cammino si ritrovano nelle pagine in cui il protagonista va alla ricerca della propria assoluta libertà. A costui la vita ha riservato una seconda possibilità; viene creduto morto e può rifarsi una vita altrove. Già... si può fuggire dai propri affetti, dai propri impegni, dal proprio lavoro, ma come evadere dalle sbarre del proprio cuore?
-Perché certa gente è destinata come Giobbe a vivere un'interminabile dibattito con la propria visione della vita? Perché certi cuori sentono l'esistenza come un affronto e le condizioni di essa li umiliano?
A Pag. 20 Viene chiesto la protagonista:
-Perché hai letto tutti quei libri?
-Cercavo una cosa, risponde
-Che cosa?
-Non lo so, ammette tristemente lui

Vi siete mai chiesti perché avete letto così tanti libri?
C’è una cosa peggiore di non trovare che cosa si cerca, è non sapere che cosa si sta cercando.

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wright’s second behemoth suffers from an abundance of Dostoevskian noodling and a fondness for tubthumping in the manner of late H.G. Wells. This takes the form of antihero Damon Cross launching into frenzies of eloquent discourse when being interrogated by twitchy Commies and humpbacked DAs in a manner that stretches credulity to snapping point. This quirk aside, The Outsider is a riveting potboiler exploring a man beyond morality, a man unsqueezable into his class, his skin colour, his environment, and the hypocritical laws of his country. A searing tale of violence and psychological terror, with a sturdy slapdown of the Fascist and Communist movements of the 1950s, Wright’s second opus serves up another explosion of insight from one of the most vital American novelists, portraying a world as claustrophobic as that described in the breathless story/novel The Man Who Lived Underground.

[Namrirru · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is like a resetting of Crime and Punishment. There's the main character, a young man who cuts off relations with his family, acts out of his own idealism and disenchantment with the world, commits murder more than once, tries to help the people he thinks are worth helping, then there's the sympathetic detective who has him figured out.

But it's different.

Richard Wright builds the story around diferent philosophies like Nietzsche and Heidegger, but he sets those philosophies up for failure. He has different views on society, power, socio-economic relationships, idealism and philosophy, but it's only in his negation of those other ideas that you come close to what he really believes. This is all wrapped up in the story and characters, really well done so it doesn't come off preachy.

At first I didn't like it because I took the main character rather literally, but then it became more apparent that this is a hypothetical character out of something from Nietzsche. With that, the reader can come up with his/her own conclusions about what the author believes and thinks.

It's a good novel. I recommend it.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

he took a lot of heat for this one because it departs in some ways from his earlier writings, especially for its scathing critique of the communist party and the white left and its exploration of existentialism. i think it's brilliant and deep thinking on violence, identity, victimization, political organizing, love, and the human condition.

[Seri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novel by 1950's Harlem Renaissance black writer Richard Wright. Its an expressly philosophical book that includes the ideas of Nietzsche, Sartre, Kierkegaard and more. The story of a black existentialist bordering on nihilism who is torn between fascists and communists. It blurs the line between a pulpy crime story and a high-literary novel.

All my praise.

[K Marcu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[She Reads for Jesus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Wright's 'The Outsider' is a phenomenal novel that draws the reader to the dark side of the life of the main character Cross Damon. This extraordinary character introduces the reader to a man who lives outside the norms, expectations, rules, and laws of society. He embraces no ideological, societal or governmental theories, and he claims no religious prinicipals. Wright allows the reader to imagine the life of an individual who has little emotional regard for his family, who constantly succombs to his desire for women, and whose destructive ideologies decide the fate of his life. This intriguing page turning novel will appeal to the reader from beginning to end. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys classic African-American literature.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best book but I like Wright’s blend of existentialist or absurdist themes with a realistic style. As always, Wright provides a powerful narrative tempo but the story does get interrupted by didacticism.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This only really works as a psychological/political/philosophical manifesto, and at 600 pages of length it is far too long for that. And that's before taking into account that its political argument is personally abhorrent to me (and probably not for the reason most would guess).

The novel part works but only before taking into account its extremely dated sanctioning of domestic violence and statutory rape. But then even the intriguing plot gets drowned about halfway through in metaphysical and sociological musings. It's a shame because the premise is super compelling -- a systematically oppressed and downtrodden man gets almost literally a new lease on life -- it's just that Wright uses it toward a very tedious purpose (to explain... and explain... and explain... why a truly free intellectual must reject all systems of hierarchy and law).

And I guess we can circle back to the political argument. I understand the issues with mid-20th century Bolshevism/Stalinism, especially the international offshoots, and I don't begrudge Wright for having been mistreated by CPUSA and resenting them for it. But his portrayal of the movement in this book is hilariously uncharitable, and his equation of CPUSA with all of communism is so absurd as to be borderline offensive (no mention of socialism is made at any point either). Wright is more of a thinker/intellectual than I'll ever be, but in this case his outlook seems weirdly reductive.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this except to Wright completists, or maybe Cedric Robinson devotees (Black Marxism, which discusses Wright and this book). It's too long to be really worthwhile for any particular reason you might want to read it. If you do read this you should read either Native Son or Black Boy first. They're shorter and they'll make you feel less guilty about skimming portions of this one.

Not Bad Reviews

[arcobaleno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libero da tutti, fuorché da te stesso

Spiazzante eppure avvincente. Incredibile eppure notevole. Sconvolgente eppure monopolizzante. Drammatico eppure... ha letteralmente catturato la mia attenzione, dall'inizio alla fine.
Difficile (per me) esprimere ora un giudizio articolato e oggettivo di questo romanzo. E' tutto: è un giallo; è un romanzo psicologico, filosofico, sociale; è immaginario, quasi distopico, e in parte autobiografico; è perfino romantico e anche un saggio. La scrittura è semplice ed essenziale. Mai sopra le righe.
Non affondo nella trama e nei significati del romanzo. Si può solo leggere per farsene un'idea.
Ho conosciuto Richard Wright con l'altro suo romanzo Ragazzo negro. Ringrazio Nood-Lesse che mi ha consigliato di leggere anche questo.

P.S. Manca la quinta stellina perché in un paio di passaggi ci sono, secondo me, delle incongruenze.

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I unfortunately read this at a time when it must have been incomprehensible. Dewed with youth, affecting an angst and still noshing fast food while often remaining awake for 24 hours at a clip. I only recall two episodes: the queue for the train and the encounter (molestation?) and the final slugfest of the ideologues. Perhaps my latest trek will lead me back to this door.

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is hard to look at the books of Richard Wright without considering the racial tension surrounding the time of publication and setting. But objectively, without bothering about the author's background, his books are masterpieces. They are bold, daring, tragic, powerful, intricate, deep and profound. Ascribe any adjective you like, but there is no substitution for immersing yourself in The Outsider or Native Son. Don't forget his short stories either. I put Richard Wright on the level of Dostoyevsky. So why isn't he read in high school English classes? Why isn't he anthologized as often as James Baldwin or even paltry Kurt Vonnegut? Sure, his themes and method are controversial. The things his characters say might send a shiver down your spine every once in a while. But I guarantee you will never forget this book. Don't be intimidated by its size. It is nothing like Henry James or even Dreiser. Wright writes simply, without tiptoeing around. If you can read a newspaper, you can read this book. But that doesn't stop him from ploughing headlong into immense abysses of existentialism. If you don't believe me, read his incredible short story called "Big Black Good Man." This was my first introduction to Wright, and I still think it's a great taste of what he can do.

[Pandrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Wright's "The Outsider" tells the story of Cross Damon, a black man living in Chicago around 1950 who, after a narrowly escaping death in a freak 'El' derailment, lets the world believe he is dead and leaves for New York City to live as a ghost, a non-entity, an outsider. But when he gets to NY he finds his past life's habits impossible to leave behind. Damon, an intellectual prone to obsessive thought and bouts of self-loathing, is borne immutably down the path he had tread his entire life, only now with the full understanding of its isolation, despair, and violence.

One of the most frightening books I've read since, well, Richard Wright's "Native Son", this book examines the difficulty of changing one's lot and the futility and danger of trying to do right through criminal, nefarious means. And above that, it's a beautifully written, fully self-aware novel about the existence of those who never seem to fit.

[Ofelia Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The first part has an amazing tension that is very driving and admirable and makes me want to write heavily-plotted novels. Toward the end, the novel becomes a little bogged down in the specifics of ideas/philosophies/etc... which is okay but sometimes I felt like I already understood much of it from the first part and that it was only there to make sure I got it just in case I happened to be sort of dense. But that was okay. It's still good.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

5-star ideas with a kind of hit-or-miss execution. Some passages are precise, fantastic, and real, while others seem clunky in exposition-heavy dialogue or accounting for a difficult plot. It sometimes seems like Wright is trying to bring "Crime and Punishment" to a new generation he doesn't trust to read on its own. But it is a noble task; whatever it takes to bring "Crime and Punishment" to more people is fine by me. But the ideas make up for some of the issues I took with the narrative.

[Pablo Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though weighed down by some of its heavy-handedness (a couple of extended monologues on politics, a few too many narrative coincidences, etc), Wright's novel is an engrossing portrayal of a black man's alienation and nihilism. It reads like a modern version of 'Crime and Punishment' in parts, with some Camus and Sartre thrown in. I still prefer 'Native Son', though. In any case, it is a great novel.

[kerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far Richard Wright's best book. It is based on sartre and camus, but Wright adapts the questions of existentialism to the slums of 1930s black Chicago. I recommend it to anyone who likes the bizarre, the eerie, and the provocative.

[RK Byers · Rating 2 out of 5]

i can't remember the last time i was so happy that a book finally ended.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was gripping in so many ways. It was puzzling and eye opening and dark and serious. This book haunted me when I put it down. I found myself thinking about the main character and his take on things. I found myself trying to imitate his stoicism and the way he could be so emotionally detached was remarkable. This was brilliant and the way the story intertwined and and weaved its way around issues and ideals was astonishing.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that not only deals with race, but also deals with man feeling free enough to behave however he wants without thinking about the consequences. Interesting how his character develops from a man trapped in his life, to a man completely free and then back towards a life where his actions have effects on everything and everyone else around him. I would recommend this book.

[Abdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

great work of potent relevance to us today, a timeless clasic!! loved it!!!

[sydney s · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story. Great pacing, often funny, action-packed, philosophical, and also a legal drama? This book is like Crime and Punishment, Native Son, Nausea, and Invisible Man (though Wright did not read Invisible Man until after this book was completed - allegedly) had a really awesome, maybe slightly overstuffed literary baby. Did not love the way that the women were written, but that might be my only gripe. People giving a book like this two stars because they dislike the protagonist should be forced to delete their accounts. Might be my new favorite book of all time. Maybe top three. Everyone should read this. I love Richard Wright.

[carson blakeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I’ve lived alone… but I’m everywhere. Man is returning to the earth. For a long time he has been sleeping, wrapped in a dream. He is awakening now, awakening from his dreams and finding himself in a waking nightmare. The myth-men are going, the real men, the last men are coming. Because in my heart i felt i’m innocent. That’s what made the horror.”

read the damn book

[Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stylistically and thematically akin to Crime and Punishment, with a Black main character constantly threatened by the powers that be and surrounded by Communist paranoia in mid-20th Century America.

“Because in my heart... I’m... I felt... I’m innocent... That’s what made the horror... “ (p. 586)

[freckledbibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely engaging! There are so many emotional memories and moments tied to this book, I’ll have to wait and write a summary.
4.5

[Sanaa'i Muhammad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haunting, tragic, stunning, free...the most beautiful work of existentialist fiction I have ever read.

[Cameron Barham]

“(Cross) munched his hamburger and fell into a melancholy brooding upon the mysterious movements of his consciousness. What was this thing of desire that haunted him? It seems that I just desire desire, he told himself. And there’s no apparent end or meaning to it…”, p. 31