Term Papers on Black Boy

Term Paper Title	Black Boy
# of Words	930
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.72

Black Boy

         Black Boy , an autobiography by Richard Wright, is an

account of a young African-American boy's thoughts and outlooks on life in

the South while growing up.  The novel is 288 pages, and was published by

Harper and Row Publishers in 1996. The main subject, Richard Wright, who

was born in 1908, opens the book with a description of himself as a

Four-year-old in Natchez, Mississippi, and his family's later move to

Memphis.  In addition it describes his early rebellion against parental

authority, and his unsupervised life on the streets while his mother is at

work.  His family lives in poverty and faces constant hunger.  As a result

his family lives with his strict grandmother, a fervently religious woman.

          In spite of his frequent punishment and beatings, Wright remembers the

pleasures of rural life.   Richard then describes his family's move to

Memphis in 1914.  Though not always successful, Richard's rebellious

nature pervades the novel.  This is best illustrated by his rebellion

against his father. He resents his father's the need for quiet during the

day, when his father, a night porter, sleeps. When Mr. Wright tells

Richard to kill a meowing kitten if that's the only way he can keep it

quiet, Richard has found a way to rebel without being punished. He takes

his father literally and hangs the kitten. But Richard's mother punishes

him by making him bury the kitten and by filling him with guilt. Another

theme is seen when his father deserts the family, and Richard faces severe

hunger. For the first time, Richard sees himself as different from others,

because he must assume some of the responsibilities of an adult. In

contrast to his above characteristics, Richard soon shows his ability in

learning, even before he starts school, which he begins at a later age

than other boys because his mother couldn't afford his school clothes.

Rebellion, hunger (for knowledge and food), and the sense of being

different will continue with Richard throughout this book.  In the

following chapters the Wrights move to the home of Richard's Aunt Maggie.

But their pleasant life there ends when whites kill Maggie's husband.

Later the threat of violence by whites forces Maggie to flee again.

Additional unfortunate events include Richard's mother having a stroke. As

a result, Richard is sent to his Uncle Clark's, but he is unhappy there

and insists on returning to his mother's.

Later, Richard confronts his Aunt Addie, who teaches at the Seventh-Day Adventist church school. He also resists his grandmother's attempts to convert him to religious faith. He writes his first story and blossoms in a literary sense. Richard then gets a job selling newspapers but quits when he finds that the newspapers hold racist views. Soon after this incident, his grandfather dies. Richard publishes his first story. The reaction from his family is overwhelmingly negative, though they...

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