Richard Wright: Hungry for Knowledge

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Richard Wright’s novel Black Boy is an autobiography about his life. “Black Boy” covers his life in the south, from Memphis, Tennessee to Mississippi where he moved as he got older. In the novel Wright , talks about his struggles growing up during the Jim Crow laws, and being abandoned by his father. Growing up in poverty, hunger, fear, and hatred, and confusion Wright felt the need to steal, and lash out others around him to make himself feel better about life. Wrights mother also had a disability which also made it hard for him money wise because she couldn’t work that much and most of their income was depended upon his elderly grandmother and himself. Wright also addresses the issues of not being able to live his life the way he wanted to because of society and how things were set up. Wright was force to leave school because of how unstable his household was. Wright was force to be put into the work force way before he was ready. The novel follows Wright through his youth all the way to his adult years. In the novel Black Boy Richard Wright indentified how the institution of the United States intentionally deprived blacks of their basic needs such as food, education and knowledge of the world due to racism. In the early 1900s, Society was set a certain way for certain people, which Wright did not fit the requirements. Wright beat and killed innocent animals just for the fun of it. “Kill that damn thing!” (Wright 12) Wright violent acts began with his father, one day while they were out in the field a cat walked by making noise which irritated Nathan, Wrights father. After a while the noise became unbarring and Nathan lashed out to Richard to kill it. After his first kill it became pleasing to Wright soon killing animals b... ... middle of paper ... ...eb. 30 Sep. 2013. Swan, Noelle. "High School Dress Code: The Battle for Keeping Up Appearances." Christian Science Monitor: n.p. Sep 11 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 30 Sep. 2013 . Staff, ProQuest. Poverty Timeline. Leading Issues Timelines, 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 30 Sep. 2013. The Advent of "Jim Crow"., 2009. SIRS Government Reporter. Web. 30 Sep. 2013. White, Justin. "Research Finds Link Between Social Media and the 'Fear of Missing Out'." Washington Post. 09 Jul 2013: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 01 Dec 2013. Wright, Richard. Black Boy. London: Vintage, 2000. Print. Wright, Richard. Native Son,. New York: Harper & Bros., 1940. Print. Younger, Gary. "America Dreaming." New Statesman 2013: 20. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 30 Sep. 2013

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