Black Boy Rhetorical Analysis

Black Boy is an incredible memoir that takes the reader on a journey through the harsh realities of growing up black in the Jim Crow South, where the struggle to find one's voice and identity is a daily battle.Throughout the memoir Wright uses diction and imagery in order to further the central idea that it's a struggle to find oneself in a world of racism.

Black Boy is a memoir that shows the experiences of Richard Wright as he grows up in the South during the 20th century. Through descriptions of his life and struggles, Wright gives readers a chance to understand the impact of oppression on his life. This can be seen in the beginning of the memoir when he says,"The white folks acted as if they were superior, as if they were the only real

In this quote, Wright uses the language of superiority and inferiority to show racism. The contrast that Wright makes between the "white folks" who act as if they are superior and the "black folks" who acknowledge their inferiority shows the ways in which racism can divide people into categories of "us" and "them". Using diction, Wright allows readers to understand the ways that racism continues systems of oppression and inequalities in society. This quote furthers the central idea that it is a struggle to find oneself in a world of racism by highlighting the pressure that racism puts on people to conform to its expectations. Later in the text, Wright uses diction when he says "The white people of the South had created a system of oppression so rigid, so all-encompassing, that it touched every aspect of life" (Wright 25). His use of diction in this quote shows that racism was a part of every aspect of his life. By saying this,

Wright uses diction in the beginning of the memoir when he says,"I saw the signs on water fountains and toilets, 'White' and 'Colored', and I knew that I was 'Colored'. I saw the frightened eyes of my mother, and I felt the nagging hunger in my stomach, and I knew that I was 'Colored' in a society in which 'Colored' was synonymous with 'Nobody" (Wright 12). This quote uses imagery to show the ways in which racism was a constant presence in Wright's life, it shaped his experiences and his personal outlook. The signs on water fountains and toilets serve as symbols of the racial segregation that defined the South. The fear in his mother's eyes and the hunger in his stomach reflect the impact of oppression in their lives. Through this imagery, Wright gives the readers a chance to understand the ways in which racism was not just a matter of laws and policies, but a lived reality that had consequences for individuals and communities. Later in the memoir, Wright says "I would huddle in a corner, afraid to face the things I feared, trying to probe my past, to explore the depths of my feelings, to know myself. In the silence of my room, I would spend hours staring at the cracks in the ceiling, searching for the meaning of my life, seeking some glimmer of hope in the midst of despair" (Wright 71). In this quote, Wright uses imagery to describe the struggle to understand and define