SOURCE: “The Revolt Against Wright,” in From Apology to Protest: The Black American Novel, Everett/Edwards, Inc., 1973, pp. 51, 61-3.

In the following excerpt from his book, From Apology to Protest, Schraufnagel calls The Living Is Easy an “accommodationist” work which “illustrates the attempts by blacks to adjust to white society.”

Despite the popular success of the [Richard] Wright school in the forties, there were many black novelists who did not follow Wright's lead. While no pattern or movement comparable to that initiated by Native Son appeared, three general trends are discernible. Proletarian fiction, dealing with the plight of the working class, is one of these minor categories. The accommodationist novel, which illustrates the attempts by blacks to adjust to white society, comes into prominence in this decade. A third category is the assimilationist novel, which presents a white cast of characters. Much of the work in these areas...