This etching is one of six by John Woodrow Wilson that illustrate the haunting plot of Richard Wright’s short story, “Down by the Riverside.” During a flood, the tragic hero, Mann, steals a boat to take his pregnant wife to the hospital, rescuing nearby families along the way. Despite his charity, Mann is attacked by a group of farmers who take him for a thief and a murderer. At the end of the story, his lifeless body is dropped into the floodwaters. Wilson’s use of blue in the etchings and his adherence to narrative plot are stunning departures from his other works. The flood and the boat are metaphors for the dislocation Mann and his family endure due to racism and economic injustice; they are adrift in their own town.