Michael Bilello
Bevacqua
English 133
November 14th, 2014
James Arlington Wright James Arlington Wright was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio on December 13, 1927. His father worked for fifty years at a glass factory, and his mother left school at fourteen to work in a laundry; neither attended school beyond the eighth grade. Wright suffered from depression and bipolar mood disorders and also battled alcoholism his entire life. He experienced several nervous breakdowns, was hospitalized, and was subjected to electroshock therapy. Some of these experiences had influenced some of the poetry he had written. He often wrote about the excluded or the American outsiders. Throughout all of the mayhem that he has gone through his poems were…show more content… He then joined the army and was stationed in Japan. After leaving the army he then joined Kenyon College and graduated with honors in 1952. During his graduating he had written 20 journals and won Robert Frost Poetry Prize and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Throughout Wright’s life he had received many awards for his books and poems. Including the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award for “The Green Wall” in 1957, the Ohioana Book Award for “Saint Judas” in 1962, and the Pulitzer Prize for “Collected Poems” in 1972.…show more content… This poem, published in 1959, shows the selflessness of man. In the biblical story Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, is known for his kiss of betrayal of Jesus in exchange for payment. In the start of the story “Saint Judas” Wright states that Judas was on his way to hang himself. But when he saw the pack of hoodlums beating up a man, Jesus, he dropped the rope and questioned the need of his coins. Although banished from heaven he ran regardless of the consequences and helped him. In this story Wright made Judas a selfless human being and redeems himself and he has turned the villain of Judas into a Saint. [3] This poem would go on to win the Ohioana Book Award in 1962. This poem showed Wright’s optimistic spirit. Despite the terrible things that has happened in Wright’s life he still shows his optimism in expressing a faith in life and human