Racism In Richard Wright's Black Boy

In Richard Wright’s novel, Black Boy, Richard is struggling to survive in a racist environment in the South. In his youth, Richard is vaguely aware of the differences between blacks and whites. He scarcely notices if a person is black or white, and views all people equally. As Richard grows older, he becomes more and more aware of how whites treat blacks, the social differences between the races, and how he is expected to act when in the presence of white people. Richard, with a rebellious nature, finds that he is torn between his need to be treated respectfully, with dignity and as an individual with value and his need to conform to the white rules of society for survival and acceptance.

As the reader notices, Big boy does not have a real true name.Wright does this to show how stereotypical it was for blacks to not have true names and how the culture that black humans were in and looked at as lower in status then whites. Wright’s story "Big Boy Leaves Home" shows how not only African Americans grown-ups were badly stereotyped but how also adolescent African Americans were discriminated just as bad during the Jim Crow Era.Even when Big Boy and his friends are walking through the woods having fun and blaming each other, the fear of the whites is still in their minds and for good reason.

Finally, Richard’s relationships with his family and peers suffer because of his excessive pride. This pride is displayed when Richard mentions, “When the neighbors offered me food, I refused, already ashamed that so often in my life I had to be fed by strangers” (Wright 86). Richard feels like he is a burden and is ashamed to accept help from others. His neighbors, though, may think that Richard is stuck-up and that the food is not good enough for him when he declines. They may consider Richard disrespectful, which would lead to conflict between Richard and his neighbors, but either way, Richard remains hungry. Similarly, Richard’s dignity generates hostility between Richard and his Uncle Tom when Richard threatens to cut his uncle with razors if he came near him. Richard knows he did nothing wrong and refuses to be punished for no reason. He does not care what other people think about him and will stand up for what he believes in, even if his whole family hates him because of it. Still one more example of Richard’s pride is revealed when Richard and his younger brother depict their terrible lives as a fun and fascinating adventure to the other children living on the plantation. Richard and his brother want

In the book Black boy by Richard Wright, Richard is alive during one of America’s saddest times. As a Black boy he has to learn to survive during the civil right acts. At the very beginning Richard was a different kind of person, more curious and adventurous. In chapter six through the book Richard had a keen understanding of the world as “you have to work to find your place.” All he really did was work, and if he were to get fired he would move and work in different places just to make a living. He was passionate about his jobs and tried his hardest all the times, but his hard work would fail him most of the times as he would be fired because he was black, or sometimes would quit because of how his fellow co-workers would treat him. He justs

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will hurt forevermore. Words hold power, they are the key to success and the bomb to downfall. Throughout history, only the words of victors are remembered while the voices of the lost are forgotten throughout the ages. A simple piece of literature, such as the Diary of Anne Frank, can cause millions of people to see their world in a new light. From a young age, Richard Wright discovered the power behind the words he spoke and heard; the strength that bleeds through the inked characters of the forbidden books he read, and the influence that a book written ages ago had on his family and others. The author of the autobiography Black boy, Richard Wright, uses literary

     Richard Wright's novel Black Boy is not only a story about one man's struggle to find freedom and intellectual happiness, it is a story about his discovery of language's inherent strengths and weaknesses. And the ways in which its power can separate one soul from another and one class from another. Throughout the novel, he moves from fear to respect, to abuse, to fear of language in a cycle of education which might be likened to a tumultuous love affair.

In the world, segregation and oppression has always been a problem. Moreover, blacks have been treated inhumanely and terribly for years. Especially for Richard, he always gets treated like trash and beaten even when he does nothing wrong. He is even discriminated against by other blacks for being different and having an opinion. In Black Boy by Richard Wright, Richard is trying to convey how white people, in particular, dictate everything blacks do and how it drastically alters the way he acts around them and how he ultimately approaches life.

Richard is often disciplined through the church and religion through his grandmother and his mother. At moments he is very close to being pulled-in by religion. ‘ 'While listening to the vivid language of the sermons I was pulled towards emotional belief, but as soon as I went out of the church and saw the bright sunshine and felt the throbbing life of the people in the streets I knew that none of it was true and that nothing would happen. ' ' This quote shows how non-easily influenced he is, how he does not feel the need to agree with others just so that he can fit-in. Because he refuses the church, his grandmother brands him as a sinner who will send the entire household to hell. His aunt Addie, who teaches him religious class at one point, goes as far as using him as an example to the class of ‘ 'a sinner. ' ' His independence is

Overlying issues are still a mystery when it comes to revolving racism. In the autobiography written by Richard Wright, he endures many obstacles beginning with his family and including people around him. Living in the South piled on more the ideas of segregation, racism and poor education. Richard Wright was born after The Civil War but before The Civil Rights movement. If Wright were writing an autobiography titled Black Boy about a black boy growing up in the United States today, he would write about conducted poor policing towards African Americans, the first elected African American president, and the unsolved issue of diversity in education.

‘When you get through, kiss back there.’” And his “first indication that something was wrong was that Granny became terribly still...” (Wright 41) As young children do, Richard was just repeating something he happened to hear that he didn’t fully understand the meaning of. His grandmother, however, knew exactly what it meant and where the words came from―they came from the “Devil’s work.” That story that Richard had heard from Ella. Richard is young, and innocent in a way, and doesn’t really know anything about rules or the restrictions put upon him. Because of this, he lacks the knowledge to figure out what he has done to offend people in what he says. Richard doesn’t even know what or how he has said something wrong until someone goes and beats him for it. But he remains without the knowledge to correct his problem, when all he really has to do is sometimes keep his mouth shut. He doesn’t yet understand that there should be a noticeable difference between what is articulated and what is thought, let alone understand what that difference should be. After Richard and his family leave his Granny’s house by train, he notices that the people of his color are kept separate from the whites. He wasn’t informed as to why they were apart, so he wanted to go and see how the whites were sitting in their section of the train. He asked his mother is he could “‘go peep at the white folks?’ (...) ‘Quite talking

keep your mouth shut or the white folks Ôll get you too." As a teenager Wright

In Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard’s interactions with his family and the white world force him to mature at an early age. First, Richard is forced by his family to mature through harsh beatings and verbal abuse that give him a strong sense of independence. Second, the loss of Richard’s father and other adult figures in his life forces him to accept a larger position in the household. Third, interactions with white people and racism force Richard to address them with complete conformity and respect. Richard struggles with his early maturation and attempts to avoid it by rebelling against his family and the white world.

His family’s confidence never dwindled; time after time, they joined a crusade to save Richard’s soul. Tensions began to increase when Aunt Addie enrolled Richard in the religious school where she taught. Labeled as a black sheep, Richard continued to defy the iron fist of his family. The conflict between Aunt Addie and Richard exploded when he was accused of eating walnuts in class. Richard knew the boy in front of him was guilty, but he abided by the “street code” and said nothing. Despite Richard’s denial, Aunt Addie did not conduct an investigation and immediately beat Richard in front of the class. After submitting to his aunt, he finally confessed the guilty suspect. Rather than to commend Richard for the truth, Aunt Addie attempted to beat him again after school. However, brandishing a knife, Richard defended himself. He had stood up for his dignity and pride, something that was worth more to him than anything.

Richard Wright, an African American writer who wrote about the race relations in the United States, left the country to escape its prejudiced ways. Leaving America, Richard Wright went to Paris and lived the rest of his life as an emigrant. Justly, his reasons for fleeing his former home were certainly understandable because of the way he, like every African American during the time, was mistreated. While a multitude of people feel that is wrong to abandon one’s own country, for many like Richard, it is the only reasonable and often the easiest option to achieve success and happiness. One may ask, what is an acceptable reason to permanently leave one’s own country and what circumstance would that person leave for? That specific reason relies on the varied opinions and experiences of an individual. For myself, there are countless reasons that would push me to permanently leave the country. The major reason that I would leave for another country is if I was being suppressed or discriminated against because of my race, sex, religion, and/or sexuality, or if I wanted to go and follow my dreams but was being held back because of the country I live in.

All throughout history, African-Americans have never been viewed by people as truly equal to other races. The story takes place before the Great Depression and is told through the point of view of a young black boy. In the story, the protagonist, Richard, experiences the social conflicts between certain races in his community. He learns through his family, the hardships of being an African-American in the early 1900s in America. Focusing on the struggles involved in social conflicts, Richard Wright’s Black Boy depicts the complexities of racial divide and socio-economic pressures for black Americans.