ipl-logo

Richard Wright's Black Boy

847 Words4 Pages

Over six million African Americans and blacks moved from the South to the North in aspiration of seeking a better life and a fresh start. Black Boy, by Richard Wright, is the story of a young black boy, Richard, that is piloting himself through the Jim Crow South. Richard grew up in a primarily black community with his mom, Ella, and his younger brother, Alan . However, Richard is surprised to see how the blacks and whites interact. Due to his skin color, Richard is treated unfairly which makes it harder for him to thrive. As Richard comes of age, he is left to support his family. With no help or advice from his father, Richard labors many jobs in hope that he can obtain enough money to move himself and his family to the North. Although rebellious, …show more content…

At times, his rebellious standpoint causes complications between himself and others. This is communicated when Richard strangles the kitten. Richard’s father asked asked him to kill the kitten because it was disturbing him. Accordingly, Richard strangled the cat even though his father’s words were not meant to be taken literally. By rebelling, he was trying to show how cruel his father truly was. Likewise, Richard is compelled to fight back against his relatives punishment, especially when he “ lunged at [Aunt Addie] with [a] knife” (108). In this occurrence, Richard is accused of lying by Aunt Addie and he does not want to be beat with a switch, so he fights back. After years worth of accusations and brutal discipline, Richard finally stands up to his family because he can not take it any longer. Additionally, Richard refuses to accept the black and white codes. Blacks are suppose to be uneducated workers that obey every word that the whites say to them. However, Richard works to be a successful writer despite the fact that it is a struggle for blacks to have a higher ranking job in a prejudice environment. In conclusion, Richard’s rebellious attitude is both a hindrance and great attribute to his …show more content…

Although Richard is told not do certain activities to improve his life, he is driven to do them because it is his way out of the South. To begin with, Richard is told by Granny and his Aunt that he can not get a job even though his mother encourages it. After his mother acquires a paralytic stroke, Richard feels compelled to obtain a job. Against his granny and aunt’s wishes, he finds a job so that he can support his family and provide them with basic necessities. In like manner, Richard is committed to moving himself and his family to the North. He feels like the North is the place where they can be free and escape life in the South, so he does everything in his power to get their. For instance, Richard “poses as an innocent boy” (254) you have a lot of good evidence, but you will want to say how this is affecting his character. so that he could smoothly leave his job without incident. Richard is also intent on becoming a triumphant black writer in a biased community. Many people thought that black people were not meant for anything more than working for white people. Nonetheless, Richard ventures to become one of the few black people to high have a sufficient job. Richard’s determination is a key contributor to his success in society. Richard’s upbringing and life in a racist environment has lead him to develop a rebellious

Show More
Related

  • Negroes In Black Like Me

    911 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the book “Black Like Me” by Howard Griffin, a journalist goes through the times of the 1950s where blacks were not treated equally. In this book Griffin turns himself black with chemicals prescribed by a doctor and lives the life of a negro. He then leaves his family, and starts his journal accounts of his negro life. In this book Griffin changes his perspective of how negroes really were, despite what he learned from others. During his journey he faced many hardships, sufferings, and inequalities.

    Read More

  • Essay On Richard Wright's Autobiography Of An Ex-Colored Man

    702 Words  | 3 Pages

    Just to show how separate these two stories are, Black Boy opens up with young Richard lighting straw on fire in his grandmother’s furnace while his brother repeatedly tells him to stop. Richard then sets his grandmother’s curtains ablaze just to understand what would happen. This event is a representation of Richard’s constant struggle to understand the separation between black and white and the way the world works now while at the same time being constantly badgered about how he should stop trying to understand everything and should just go along with everything. Because of Richard’s constant desire to understand everything, he repeatedly creates turmoil in his numerous households. An example being when he moves back into his grandmother’s house and takes up an extreme obsession with reading while his heavily religious grandmother, who believes that anything fictional is the work of the devil.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Black Men In Public Space By Brent Staples

    1148 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout history these human beings specifically black men and women have risen above this and achieved many different levels of success in sports, writing, politics, acting, and numerous other things. despite all of the achievements and qualifications black men have gained in life, Racism is still present. In Brent Staples’ Black Men

    Read More

  • Violence In Richard Richard's Black Boy

    277 Words  | 2 Pages

    The overall theme for the book “Black Boy” is you work hard enough you can become anything despite your physical appearance, for instance in Richard's case it was his race. The motif “hunger” ties back with the theme because in RIchard's case even though he was dirt poor he still worked hard to get whatever money he could earn and feed himself and his family. So Richard worked hard to earn money even though his race didn’t make it easy to. The motif “violence also ties back to the theme because violence was a big part of Richard's childhood. Again, although Richard faced violence, discrimination, ect.

    Read More

  • Literary Elements In 'Black Boy'

    660 Words  | 3 Pages

    He writes, “But no sooner had the preacher arrived than I began to resent him, for I learned at once that he, like my father, was used to having his own way” (Wright 40). Richard is able to relate the preacher to his own father, who selfishly left the family and never showed any love towards his children. This quote shows how men in this time period were used to doing whatever they wanted and were seen as the main authority figures in a household. Furthermore, in the case of Richard’s father, it highlights the socially-accepted absence of men from the life of their children. Richard sees both his father and the preacher as men who take advantage of his family without contributing much, and this causes him to be resentful of

    Read More

  • The Corrupt Nature Of Institutions In Richard Wright's Black Boy

    975 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Wright explores the corrupt nature of institutions in the Jim Crow South. The recurring idea of corruption is seen in Richard’s experience at the Methodist Church, where he is compelled to act with conformity and give up his freedom to make his own decisions. Later in Richard’s life, his school principal threatens Richard’s academic future when Richard declines the principal’s request, by which even his classmates are disturbed. Contrary to the perspectives of the people surrounding Richard, organized institutions that people are taught to respect, such as churches and schools, are commonly corrupt and fear the loss of power.

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In Richard Wright's Black Boy

    474 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his autobiographical novel, Black Boy, Richard Wright uses figurative language to communicate to readers his youthful disenchantment with the roles naturally assumed by most living creatures. Early on in the book, Wright shifts from one anecdote to the next using short lyric phrases, each phrase detailing an experience he has as a young boy that affects his perspective. In one of these sentences, Richard thinks back on the “disdain that filled” him as he tormented a crawfish that “huddled fearfully” away from him (Wright 15). He is uncomfortable with the implication of his being able to go through with such a thing, yet he continues to do so. Richard’s recognition of his “torture” of the crawfish and his continuing to torture the crawfish give the impression that he sees but does not understand why he should

    Read More

  • Prejudice And Discrimination In Richard Wright's Black Boy

    3767 Words  | 16 Pages

    Since they do not earn a decent wage, they don’t have the minimum amount of luxury in their lives. They are deprived of homes, food and other essential necessities. The effect of racial discrimination discloses on Wright in the guise of starvation. As a child, Richard could not grasp the concept of racism. But when he grows up, he acknowledges why he and his sibling need to feast upon the leftover sustenance of the white individuals.

    Read More

  • Richard Wright's Black Boy: Book Review

    800 Words  | 4 Pages

    Black Boy Book Review Richard Wright begins his biography in 1914 with a story of his never-ending curiosity and need to break the rules. Although this biography only extends through the early years of his life, Wright manages to display the harsh world that a black member of society faced in the South during the time of the Jim Crow laws. Wright explains the unwritten customs, rules and expectations of blacks and whites in the south, and the consequences faced when these rules are not followed strictly.

    Read More

  • Prejudice And Racism In Richard Wright's Black Boy

    364 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the autobiography “Black Boy” by Richard Wright, Richard learns that racism is prevalent not only in his Southern community, and he now becomes “unsure of the entire world” when he realizes he “had been unwittingly an agent for pro-Ku Klux Klan literature” by delivering a Klan newspaper. He is now aware of the fact that even though “Negroes were fleeing by the thousands” to Chicago and the rest of the North, life there was no better and African Americans were not treated as equals to whites. This incident is meaningful both in the context of his own life story and in the context of broader African American culture as well. At the most basic level, it reveals Richard’s naïveté in his belief that racism could never flourish in the North. When

    Read More

  • Isolation In Richard Wright's Black Boy

    1024 Words  | 5 Pages

    Richard has always felt the unjust of race, and has felt how segregation made it hard for him to have a future. But when he gets a chance to get revenge on the whites, he refuses when he thinks ”Who wanted to look them straight in the face, who wanted to walk and act like a man.(200)” Stealing went against his morals of the right way to succeed and would not help the community appearance to the whites. The community as a whole is very religous but Richard does not share these beliefs, even with the persistence of his friends and family he says ”Mama, I don't feel a thing.(155)” This caused his friends to beg him, but in face of rejection they leave him alone.

    Read More

  • Racial Segregation In Richard Wright's Black Boy

    515 Words  | 3 Pages

    This pattern helped Richard learn how to behave in front of whites even if it meant he had to be someone he is not. Even though Richard hates being someone he is not, he must to maintain his job and get by in the south. Richard is getting better and better at being around whites but in order to do that he has to do thing he

    Read More

  • The Struggle In Richard Wright's The Black Boy

    214 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the memoir “The Black Boy” by Richard Wright, it tells a story in first person view of a young six-year-old boy who lives his life during the Jim Crow time period. The memoir tells a story of young Richard growing up in the south, living with his family he experienced many struggles growing up, beaten and yelled at by his family; his mom, grandmother, employer/employees and the kids at school. He would try his best to learn what he considered acceptable to the society and what is not. Due to his race, skin color, and the time period, he struggles to fit in with the people around him, and all he wish he could do is for everyone around to accept who he is. Wright tries to convey this theme that Richard tries to join the society on his

    Read More

  • The Reality Of Religion In Richard Wright's 'Blackboy'

    1183 Words  | 5 Pages

    However, they expose him to religion in violent and mentally abusive ways that make their purpose larger than religion itself while completely ignoring Richard’s attempts to make his own choices with religion. Even as Richard becomes older and more able to think for himself, his family’s actions only intensify and they forever change his opinion on religion. However, while Richard’s family was unethical in the way they exposed him to religion, their actions truly reflect the hardships that are associated with a poor African American family during their time. Throughout his childhood, Richard is constantly exposed to religion in unethical ways by his family.

    Read More

  • Racism And Violence In Richard Wright's Black Boy

    671 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story represents the culmination of Wright’s passionate desire to observe and reflect upon the racist world around him. Racism is so insidious that it prevents Richard from interacting normally, even with the whites who do treat him with a semblance of respect or with fellow blacks. For Richard, the true problem of racism is not simply that it exists, but that its roots in American culture are so deep it is doubtful whether these roots can be destroyed without destroying the culture itself. “It might have been that my tardiness in learning to sense white people as "white" people came from the fact that many of my relatives were "white"-looking people. My grandmother, who was white as any "white" person, had never looked "white" to me” (Wright 23).

    Read More

More about Richard Wright's Black Boy

Open Document