Short Story of a Mysterious Shadow and Attempted Murder

* When they went round to the back porch they saw a shadow and ran away. As they were running they heard a shotgun go

Richard Wright’s short story entitled, “The Man Who Killed A Shadow” showed the reality and truth of a black man’s life and how quickly it can be jeopardized when race and sex are mixed together. When I began reading the story I felt heartbroken for the main character because he just seemed like a good human being. Saul basically grew up with no role models to guide him in his life and his parents and grandmother died when he was a young boy. Saul quickly had to adapt to these changes and began working to support himself. When Saul began working at a young age he did not understand why “the shadows” or white people saw him as inferior. This was something that he noticed that black people just seemed to accept and he began to accept it as well even though he had no idea why. Saul had to continue to work for the white shadows became increasingly unhappy with the way his life was going. The narrator states, “At the age of fifteen Saul knew that the life he was living was to be his lot, that there no way to rid himself of his plaguing sense of unreality, no way to relax and forget” (187). It was extremely depressing to me that Saul knew at the age of fifteen that this was the reality of the rest of his life. He knew he would never be happy and that he would have to work for the white shadows in order to feed himself.

After some time, Louise opens the door to find comfort with her sister. Someone nook the front door, they went downstairs and open the door; it was Brently Collar her husband

When she got near the porch, she stopped to take a look at the house.

She felt a chill run down her spine as she had a sense that someone was watching her from afar. Slowly turning to look behind her, she looked out in the distance of the woods by her house. When she felt certain that no one was there she proceeded the rest of the way to her front door.

Staring up at the house, she listened. The constant banging of the door against its frame, and the eerie sound of a malevolent snicker echoing throughout the empty rooms were the only sounds she heard.

The house grew darker as he travelled through, hoping he entered the right room. He stumbled over a pile of wood left from the flooring. Catching himself, he called out to the girl again.

Slowly she began to back away toward back door; she pressed her back against the fly screen and wrapped her hand around the door handle. Footsteps made their way toward their door and a fist banged against the wood, the door ricocheting off the fist and wiggling. Her mother then gasped and slowly walked to the door, wrapping her hand around her belly she opened the door and Djinda darted to hide in the kitchen.

Sarah heard the screams and tried to make herself as small as she could. The closet she was hiding in was pitch black, not much bigger than a phone booth and smelled of strong chemicals. But for now, it was her only refuge from the terror that reigned just beyond the darkness of her sanctuary. The sheer panic owned Sarah in the moments leading up to now had drifted, as she realised the frequency of the screams from the nearby hallways had decreased in the last few minutes. But she was still every bit as scared as when the whole thing began. She could hear her own breathing and wondered how loud it may sound to the outside world. Sarah hadn’t heard gunshots for a while, five minutes. Maybe more. She couldn’t know for sure. The shooting began without warning and turned the school into chaos sometime during second period when Sarah was in the library.

Stashing it under the loose floor board, she then locked all of the windows and doors in her house. She knew he would arrive soon. Crash! The sound of a window being broken on the other side of the house. Sooner than she thought. All she could do now is load the gun and wait.

As she pulled her body up off the cold, damp floor of the forest, Annabel heard a strange noise near her. She quickly

As she walked towards the white door of her bedroom, she hears distant gurgling. As if the sewers were backed up or the kitchen sink is clogged. Carefully twisting the knob, she was about to take a step out, but was immediately taken aback.

she checks her pocket to make sure her schedule was there and she puts her phone in her pocket, and makes her way out the door.

Behind her in the living room, someone cleared his throat. She panicked, she didn’t know is she should turn around or not. She didn’t know if she wanted to see what frightful thing would be standing in her living room. Behind her, she could hear someone walking closer and closer to her very slowly.

One sunny spring day, Rachel arrived home from a long day of school. As she set down her backpack, she casually walked to the kitchen to begin preparing a snack. When she was opening the cabinet door she saw an odd looking light coming from the kitchen window. She also heard a small bang and the neighbor’s dogs begin to bark. She thought to herself what the light and noise could have been. It was too bright to be headlights from the neighbor's car or really anything else. Rachel slowly approached the door to her backyard, slightly afraid of when she will find outside.