''The Fire in the Flint'' is a 1924

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by civil rights activist and writer Walter White, it was published by

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

. The novel was written during the

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...

and contains themes consistent with the New Negro Movement as well as promoting anti-racist themes and shedding light on racial oppression during the early 20th century. The novel tells the story of Dr. Kenneth Harper, an African American doctor and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran, who moves back to his hometown in Georgia to open a clinic and practice medicine after graduating from medical school. Dr. Harper, who is initially unwilling to be involved in racial tensions in the town, eventually fights against the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

after he is subjected to hostile racism from the white residents.

Reception

The book was received positively among many literary critics and civil rights activists. Writing for the magazine ''

The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...

'',

W.E.B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...

hailed the novel as "a stirring story and a strong bit of propaganda against the white Klansman and the black pussyfoot." Writing for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'',

Konrad Bercovici Konrad Bercovici (1882–1961) was an American writer. Life and career Born in Romania, into a non-observing Jewish family, in 1882, Konrad Bercovici grew up chiefly in Galaţi. His family was polyglot, teaching their children Greek, Romanian, F ...

stated that the novel was "the voice of the new Negro". Sinclair Lewis called it one of the two most important books of the autumn. Historian Kevin Boyle, in his 2004 book

Arc of Justice ''Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age'' is a 2004 book by historian Kevin Boyle, published by Henry Holt. The book chronicles racism in Detroit during the 1920s Jazz Age through the lens of Ossian Sweet, an A ...

stated: "The novel's publication was one of the signal events of the Harlem Renaissance's breakthrough year.

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

stated it was "a terrible book, but a very powerful one, and it gives one a tragic feeling of truth." However, the book was not well received amongst many southern newspapers, with one newspaper in Georgia calling it "A book of lies".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fire in the Flint, The 1924 American novels Novels about racism