Black Boy is an account of a young African-American boy’s thoughts and obstacles growing up in the South, whose family lives in poverty and experience constant hunger. The main character in the story is Richard Wright, who is born in 1908. Richard opens the book with a description of himself as a four-year-old boy in Natchez Mississippi, and his family’s later move to Memphis. It describes his rebellious attitude against his parents and his days spent on the streets while his mother is at work. Richard is struggling to survive a racist community in the South. He is only vaguely aware of the differences between blacks and whites as he views all people equally. Richard suffers from hunger his entire life, not only for food but also for
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This symbolizes the beginning of Richard’s realization of his position in life and why he is always physically hungry. Richard has many questions as he tries to understand his world. He begins to experience the cast system, and starts to differentiate white people from black people and his place in society. He sees white people have a completely different life from his and is curious to find out what leads to this difference. In the dinner scene, he knows he has to wait until the whites finish their meal to eat and does not understand, “Why some people had enough food and others did not,” (19). From this point, Richard starts to show discrimination towards white people, in his line, “Whenever I saw the “white” people now I started at them, wondering what they were really like” (24). The process of learning and uncovering his world is Richard’s response to his hunger. He gradually learns about social rules and develops a sense of freedom and fight. As Richard comes out of his illness and trauma, he shifts into a long series of natural observances. The natural world offers him solace in harsh times and a source of comfort. Richard has a sensibility that responds to beauty and Haiku gives a sense of order to a chaotic existence. Haiku appears after his tortuous episode as the story changes from a chronological account of his youth to a list of sense impressions. Richard remembers the same, “cryptic tongue,” (7) with which adults spoke about
This symbolizes the beginning of Richard’s realization of his position in life and why he is always physically hungry. Richard has many questions as he tries to understand his world. He begins to experience the cast system, and starts to differentiate white people from black people and his place in society. He sees white people have a completely different life from his and is curious to find out what leads to this difference. In the dinner scene, he knows he has to wait until the whites finish their meal to eat and does not understand, “Why some people had enough food and others did not,” (19). From this point, Richard starts to show discrimination towards white people, in his line, “Whenever I saw the “white” people now I started at them, wondering what they were really like” (24). The process of learning and uncovering his world is Richard’s response to his hunger. He gradually learns about social rules and develops a sense of freedom and fight. As Richard comes out of his illness and trauma, he shifts into a long series of natural observances. The natural world offers him solace in harsh times and a source of comfort. Richard has a sensibility that responds to beauty and Haiku gives a sense of order to a chaotic existence. Haiku appears after his tortuous episode as the story changes from a chronological account of his youth to a list of sense impressions. Richard remembers the same, “cryptic tongue,” (7) with which adults spoke about