ZORANEALEHURSTON, writing in the Satur-
day Review of Literature,characterized the work as
one “about hatreds” in which Wright “serve[d] no-
tice by his title that he [spoke] of people in revolt,
and his stories [were] so grim that the Dismal
Swamp of race hatred must be where they live.”
The collection identified Wright as a powerful
emerging literary figure, and it contributed signifi-
cantly to his selection as a GUGGENHEIMFELLOW-
SHIPwinner in 1939.
Bibliography
Butler, Robert. The Critical Response to Richard Wright.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1995.
Fabre, Michel. The World of Richard Wright.Jackson:
University Press of Mississippi, 1985.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., and Kwame Anthony Appiah,
eds. Richard Wright: Critical Perspectives Past and Pre-
sent.New York: Amistad, 1993.
Rowley, Hazel. Richard Wright: The Life and Times.New
York: Henry Holt and Company, 2001.
Uncommon Sense: The Law of Life in
ActionGarland Anderson(1933)
A work of nonfiction by GARLANDANDERSON,a
California bellhop turned BROADWAYplaywright.
Anderson, the first African American to have a
full-length play staged on Broadway, published the
work while serving as the Minister of Constructive
Thinking at an institute known as the Truth Cen-
ter. Published two years before Anderson’s death,
the volume advanced his optimistic ideas about
how best to live in the world.
UndertowEulalie Spence(1927)
A tragic prize-winning one-act play by EULALIE
SPENCEthat revolves around a troubled marital re-
lationship, illegitimacy, and faithfulness. The play
features four central characters. Dan, Hattie, and
their son Charley are an unhappy family of three
who fail to relate to each other in healthy and em-
powering ways. Clem, a former friend and lover of
Dan’s, reappears unexpectedly and soon makes
a claim on Dan’s affections when she finds out
how unhappy he is in his marriage. Dan, who re-
ceives no kindness from his wife, has begun to con-
template leaving her for Clem and the daughter
named Lucy who was borne of their relationship.
Clem decides to face her competition and, after six
evenings of keeping company with Dan, arrives at
his home to confront his wife and the friend whom
she betrayed. Clem, who is a more sympathetic
character only because she responds to the pain
she sees in her beloved, requests that Hattie grant
her husband a divorce. Although Dan has been
ready to quit his marriage, it is Clem who hopes
that he can acquire a legally binding separation
and thus be free to marry her. Clem hopes desper-
ately to provide her daughter, now on the verge of
marriage, with a respectable family history. When
Hattie threatens to reveal Clem to her daughter as
a prostitute, Dan intervenes. In an unfortunate ac-
cident, Hattie strikes her head and dies. Desperate
to save Clem from the law and implication in Hat-
tie’s death, Dan instructs his longtime sweetheart
and only hope of domestic bliss to leave him. The
story closes as Dan apologizes to the unresponsive
figure of his wife and suffers the painful irony that
he now is finally freed from his oppressive marriage
but still unable to act independently and for his
own benefit.
Undertow won recognition from CRISISin its
annual literary competition. In 1927 Spence was
awarded third prize for two of her plays, Undertow
and Hot Stuff,in the journal’s competition in litera-
ture and art. First and second prize went to MARITA
BONNER and to BRENDARAYMORYCK, respec-
tively. Two years later, Undertowwas published in
Carolina Magazine,and the play was one of four by
African-American playwrights that appeared in the
April 1929 issue. In addition to Spence’s work, the
periodical included BLACK DAMP by JOHN
MATHEUS, Scratchesby MAYMILLERSULLLIVAN,
and THEIDLEHEADby WILLISRICHARDSON.
Scholar James Hatch notes that Undertowis
powerful for Spence’s invocation of universal,
rather than racial, themes in the work. Indeed,
Spence succeeds in exploring difficult issues such
as emotional abuse, infidelity, and problematic
parenting skills without indicting the African-
American characters or suggesting that their
struggles are specific to the race.Bibliography
Burton, Jennifer, ed. Zora Neale Hurston, Eulalie Spence,
Marita Bonner and Others: The Prize Plays and Other534 Uncommon Sense: The Law of Life in Action