The result is a disaster and a humiliation beyond Richard's wildest dreams. It is, in fact, one of the only experiences in the book where we are conscious of some reluctance on the part of the writer to reveal the experience. It is something from which he will never recover, not only for personal reasons, but because of the larger implications. He, like Shorty, has allowed himself to be "used" for money.
Wright feels the effects of slavery still alive in himself, as they are alive in the whole society around him. He might as well be back on the plantation listening to his master's voice. Although the whites don't know who he is, they have structured the society against ever knowing him; as a result, he and they are inescapably bound together. His hatred for himself springs from his hatred for them. It seems that the only way Richard can redeem himself is by finding some measure of forgiveness for them.
