By 1865, African Americans were freed from slavery from which they were no longer society's outcasts. It was said that African Americans would be equal, but separate from the white man, as W. E. B. Dubois stated, “in all things that are purely social we may be as separate as the fingers, yet [together] as the hand” (460 ). African Americans believed that the slave era ended with the Civil War with all its cruelty, but they have not yet recognized that real repression has just begun; the 20th century took a toll on African Americans more than when they were in captivity, as Africans were excluded socially and economically. Writers such as Richard Wright and William Faulkner question the idea that the Negro is free, as their stories, "Almos' a Man" and "That Evening Sun" contain similar themes of powerless identity and fear in the modern century; both authors use different techniques to connect with the reader, such as regional confusion and pathos. In Wright's story, he describes Dave as a young boy who seems unaware of his social identity as he addresses his own race as "them niggers [who] can't understand anything" (1011). Wright's technique for his story it is the art of regional confusion, as the reader will not be able to identify Dave's racial class until a couple of pages later; Dave's insults towards "those niggers" confuse the reader as they would normally assume that the character is white, but if the reader looked between the lines, they could see that Dave is illiterate. It is clear that Dave comes from an uneducated background and since knowledge is power, Dave is powerless due to his racial class as school was only. for white children. Wright uses this technique not only to confuse the reader, but also to throw... half of the paper... used to pay Nancy for her service the powerful characters in the story are white men who control the; economy. Faulkner's dialogue between Nancy and Mr. Stovall suggests that Faulkner's perspective on African Americans in the modern century is that the Negro race is economically unestablished. Nancy, Jesus, and Dave are not only powerless because of their identities, but also because they have no financial endowment from their race; therefore, the black race is helpless socially and economically as it leads to fear of the white man. In conclusion, Richard Wright's story, "Almos a Man", and William Faulkner's story, "That Evening Sun", question whether the Negro is finally free as their modern stories portray black characters with a helpless and frightening identity. The white man has overshadowed the black race as socially and economically excluded.