Throughout Black Boy, Richard is surrounded by negativity and criticism. Even his own family had negative things to say about him. This negativity Richard experiences on a daily basis in the south motivates him to get away. The only way he can escape is to raise enough money so that he can leave. Richard began to work at a young age, and even though these jobs physically exhaust Richard he continues to do them. The negativity Richard experiences truly motivates him into working, even though he would much rather be reading or studying at school.

The poem I wrote is just describing how the negativity Richard has experience in his life is motivating him to work. Richard has never been accepted by the majority of his own family and has been mistreated by the people in the south. The last thing Richard would want to do is fail himself. I believe he feels that if he did not raise enough money to get out of the south he would have failed himself and disappointed himself. This is why he worked so hard, he took job after job so that he would reach his goal and so that he would not disappoint himself.

Although these jobs were hard for Richard to manage he knew he had to do it. I believe he could not live a proper life knowing what he knew while living in the south. He knew he could have a better life elsewhere and the fact that he did everything he could to find that better life is inspirational to me.

A positive outcome of one of Richard's responses to cultural conflict was when he triumphed over a gang of boys, who Richard was beaten by on his way to the store. They stole his money, but his mother realized he needed to conquer this cultural conflict. She gave Richard a stick, with which he beat the boys. He stated, “That night I won the right to the streets of Memphis” (18). Richard was able to conquer the gang through a positive outcome of the cultural conflict between the gang and himself. Another positive outcome of the cultural conflicts Richard experienced was his determination. One of Richard's employers told him, “'You'll never be a writer,'…'Who on earth put such ideas into your nigger head'” (147)? This racist comment caused Richard to become very determined to be successful. He wanted to do everything which blacks were not expected to even aspire to. Richard also became determined to prove to everyone that he was equal to white people. When Richard's principal asked him to read a pre-written speech, he did not give into peer pressure, but instead, he read his own speech. He told the principal, “'I know only a hell of a little, but my speech is going to reflect that'” (176). Richard became even more determined to not give into society's expectations. Richard did not respond positively to all the cultural conflicts he encountered, however.

Because society shoved him away, Richard sometimes alienated himself. While in the orphanage, Richard stated, “I held myself in, afraid to act to speak until I was sure of my surroundings, feeling most of the time that I was suspended over a void” (29-30). In this situation Richard responded negatively by secluding himself from everyone else. Richard experienced many cultural conflicts that drove him to anger. When he heard of racial violence, he reasoned, “If anybody tried to kill me I would try to kill them first” (49). Richard also responded negatively to cultural conflicts within his own home. Because Richard and his Aunt Addie disagreed on man things, they fought, both verbally and physically. She said, “'I'll get you when you haven't got a knife'” (135). Richard replied in self-defense, stating, “'I'll always keep a knife for you'” (135). The cultural conflicts and differences between Richard and his family drew them apart and caused them to fight. Richard is on example of how people react to cultural conflicts.

One of the major themes in Black Boy is that a person's response to cultural conflicts can be both negative and positive. Richard illustrates this theme well in his life. He grew positively from such experiences, such as learning self-defense, and determination. Later in his life, Richard was able to use these skills he had acquired as a child, through cultural conflicts, to make a better life for himself and his family. Some of the cultural clashes Richard experienced affected him in a negative way. The conflict between the other orphanage children and Richard was so great that he alienated himself. Although Richard learned self-defense from the gang violence, sometimes he went too far. He said he would kill a man if he was even threatened. Regardless of the fact the Richard never did murder anyone, he was still driven to anger and violence. Richard was involved in gang fights, he said, “Our battles were real and bloody” (83). Not only was he violent in gangs, but also in his own home. Cultural conflicts can cause not only positive, but also negative responses.

Just as Richard learned self-defense, and determination, he also learned anger and violence. In Richard's life some cultural conflicts left positive effects, such as “conquering Memphis,” aspiring to be a writer, and reading his own speech. While others caused negative responses, such as the conflict at the orphanage, racial violence, and domestic violence. Just as Richard shows, cultural conflicts can cause a person to react in a positive or negative way.

Important Themes from Black Boy

1. Richard Wright's harsh upbringing- “Take this money, this note and this stick,” she said. “Go to the store and buy those groceries. If those boys bother you, then fight” (pg.17).
2. Racism in the South- “Mr. Hoskins … he done been shot. Done been shot by a white man,” the boy gasped. “Mrs. Hoskins, he dead” (pg. 54).
3. Richard Wright's violence- “Now, I told you to stop,” I screamed. “ You put that knife down!” “Leave me alone or I'll cut you” (pg. 108)
4. Richard Wright's determination- “Then your going to be blacklisted for teaching jobs,” he said. “Who the hell said I was going to teach?” I asked. “God, but you've got a will,” he said.

Passages from Black Boy

“I stood fighting, fighting as I had never fought in my life, fighting with myself. Perhaps my uneasy childhood, perhaps my shifting from town to town, perhaps the violence I had already seen and felt took hold of me, and I was trying to stifle the impulse to go the the drawer of the kitchen table and get a knife and defend myself. But this woman who stood before me was my aunt, my mother's sister, Granny's daughter; in her veins my own blood flowed; in many of her actions I could see some elusive part of my own self; and in her speech I could catch echoes of my own speech. I did not want to be violent with her, and yet I did not want to be beaten for a wrong I did not commit” (pg. 107).

• This passage shows Richards internal struggles as a child.
• This passage also shows the violent environment Richard was brought up in.
• This passage shows Richard's confusion as a child; he is fighting many different impulses and decisions; he is between a rock and a hard place.

“To protect myself against the pointed questions about my home and my life, to avoid being invited out when I knew that I could not accept, I was reserved with the boys and girls at school, seeking their company but never letting them guess how much I was being kept out of the world in which they lived, valuing their casual friendships but hiding it, acutely self-conscious but covering it with a quick smile and a ready phrase” (pg. 126).

• This passage shows Richard's isolation from people. Richard has no real friends and his relatives are his enemies. Richard is alone in the world; from a young age he has no advocates or supporters and must find his own way through life.

“Summer. Bright hot days. Hunger is still a vital part of my consciousness. Passing relatives in the hallways of the crowded home and not speaking. Eating in silence at a table where prayers are said. My mother recovering slowly, but now definitely crippled for life. Will I be able to enter school in September? Loneliness. Reading. Job hunting. Vague hopes of going north. But what would become of my mother if I left her in this queer house? And how would I fare in a strange city? Doubt. Fear. My friends are buying long-pants suit that cost twenty dollars, a sum as huge as the Alps! This was my reality in 1924” (pg. 161).

• This passage is a list of the problems facing Richard in 1924, when he is just 16 years old. Many of you (my students) can barely get your homework done whereas Richard is worrying about his mother's health, moving away from his family, finding a job and just being able to go to school. This is enormous pressure for such a young person, but Richard has been facing problems equivalent to these ones all his troubled life.

 

I agree with Wright’s ideas. I think people would know what it was like for black men in his time. He just wanted people to know that despite the color they’re alike. He hated how he was treated so he wrote about it. I do not think he was being biased either.

A theme I recognized in the story was individual positions within a racist mind-set. Wright realized that he lived in a racist world in which there was a lot of prejudice against blacks. Richard had to be tolerant with those around him who didn’t have the intellect to see the world like he did.

Another theme I recognized was the entity verses culture. Richard was simply an individual who did things his way. Throughout the story he clashes with white culture as well as black culture. Neither culture satisfied him so he dug his own path.

Another theme that was recognized was the power of the arts. Richard seemed to be able to run towards reading and writing despite the situations he was causing in his family because of it. In the end it did him good.

Using his own life story, Wright uses first person narrative to portray a young black boy growing up under the oppression of southern racism. Wright believed that well-developed protagonist in a successful novel would do more for race relations than any political speech or ruling. Therefore, by the use of his own experience reinforced by a first person role, Wright exposes the reality of life for the black American sensibly.