Black Boy Book Report Essay Research Paper

Black Boy Book Report Essay, Research Paper

Black Boy

I. Summary

Black Boy by Richard Wright is an autobiographical look at his life. It covers his life from the age

of 4 years to his mid 20’s. The book shows the life of a young black man growing up in the south

with Jim Crow laws and the general hate for blacks by whites. After realizing that the color of his

skin limited his opportunities in the south he dreamed of moving north for a different life.

Eventually he moved north to Chicago, but only saw little difference in racial equality. In Chicago

he began associating with the communist party: because of their fair treatment of blacks. Black

Boy illustrates the plight of black America and how Wright dealt with it through education and

reading. In his quest for knowledge, Wright stirred up animosity among both blacks and whites.

William Wright was born September 4,1908 on a farm in Mississippi. He was the oldest of two,

his brother Alan was a year younger. Wright had a rough childhood; plagued by poverty,

abandonments, and constant beatings by family members. Through all of his hardships Wright

never lost sight of what was important, his education and his self-esteem.

At a very early age Richard has to deal with some extremely tough issues. At the mere age of five,

Richards father left him and the family behind for another woman. This financially ruined his

family even worse. His mother had to get a job to feed them. His father offered no financial

support nor did a court order him to. Because his mother could not earn enough money to buy

food, Wright went out to find work to help; foregoing an education. At age 8 his mother suffered

a stroke which paralyzed her, this made her unable to work. She required constant medical

attention. Wright, his mother and brother moved to his grandparents house. Wright spent most of

his childhood living at his grandmothers. He is treated very poorly by his grandmother and his

aunt Addie. They are constantly beating him for no apparent reason. These beatings go on for a

long time, but he fights back several times against his grandmother, aunts, and uncles. Wright had

a great deal of independence and self-reliance, probably gained by the abandonments suffered as a

young man. Another source of turmoil in Wrights life while living in his grandmothers house was

a matter of religion. His grand mother went to church all the time and was constantly quoting the

bible, but Wright did not believe in God or the church. His grandmother hated him for this

Race relations did not affect Wright through out his early childhood. He did not even realize there

was a difference in color until his early teens. A black in the early 1900’s was supposed to act a

certain way in front of whites: like they were sub-human. It took Wright a long time to learn that.

He would act like anyone else not recognizing whites as superior just equals. He almost got killed

because of it. One day, when Wright was a teenager, a group of white men offered Wright a ride

he said”sure”. Half to town they threw him out of the car and told him the next time a white man

offers you a ride you better say “Sir” or they’ll kill you!

In his teens Wright learned of the north and how much better it was for blacks than in the south.

He worked long hours and tried to save his money but his contributions to his grandmothers

house took most of his money. He could only save $1 dollar a week, he needed $100 for his trip

to Chicago where he had relatives. He resorted to stealing from his boss. He got enough money in

three weeks. He left his grandmothers house which he hated. He promised his mother that he

would send for her when he got settled a promise he would always keep. Although he hated his

family he loved his mother and brother dearly. He stopped in Memphis on his way to Chicago. He

settled there for a little while. He got a job and rented a room with a nice family, but this family

had a daughter that they wanted to marry off but Richard wanted no part of that and moved rather

quickly. While in Memphis he sent for his Mother and Brother. After they arrived they preceded

to Chicago.

Chicago was very different than Mississippi, he saw blacks and whites would walk past each other

on the streets and blacks would not have to avoid whites. There was no threats of lynching and

open violence directed at blacks. Work was also plentiful. Wright never had problems finding

work. Even during the depression Wright had no problem finding work. At this time Wright is

very well read, he is reading some of the best works of his time and through these readings he

develops a very good knowledge of how the world works. He is the epitome of a self taught man,

his intelligence is self-evident. Walking home from work one night he heard a speaker talking

about working class people uniting and taking charge. It is Communism, and from the very

beginning he is taken by its philosophies. He is most

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