As you begin reading Richard Wright's
Black Boy, think about how the narrative establishes its authenticity. Why do you think Wright begins where he does? What metaphors or organizing images are beginning to structure the text? Who do you think his audience is for this narrative? How do you respond emotionally and intellectually to the story?
You might be interested in looking at
this chronology of Wright's life. Further information about Wright can be found
here.
Throughout the first three chapters of Black Boy, Wright emphasizes the constant hunger he feels. It is interesting to note that he yearns for the ability to read and gain knowledge, this too he compares to hunger. After his grandmother interrupts Ella’s tale, he talks of growing up and buying novels to “feed that thirst for violence.” From the imaginative tale he “had tasted what to [him] was life.” Richard is constantly hungry, not only in the way we usually think of a hunger for food, but a hunger for knowledge, and to learn about the world around him; however it is almost impossible for him to find someone who will fill his void for the hunger of knowledge. When trying to enquire about the relationship between whites and blacks, Richard’s mother only gave short, angry answers. Nowhere, was he able to digest the adequate amount of knowledge he desired.
ReplyDeleteWhat I noticed most from what I've read up to page 77 of "Black Boy" is the repetition, most notably, the repetition of describing his surrondings and nature. On page 8 he repeats the phrase "there was the" before vividly describing some part of his surroundings or nature. Not only are there noticible repetitions such as this one, but also short, less notable repetitions such as "he" on page 11 and "you" on page 12. Lots of conversations he has have a phrase that is repeated at the beginning of each sentence, much like much of his life events are repeated. He has the same, long, drawn out conversations with his mother that she tries to ignore with vague responses. He and his family are forced to move constantly, something that is repeated numerous times. Also, I also noted that images involving blood, death, cutting, dying and injury were very reoccuring and prevelant throughout the first 77 pages. The narrarator is trying to escape from this repetition, this circle of hell that he feels he is in, and hopefully he will find that escape in the next few chapters.
ReplyDeleteI too, noticed Wright's unsatiable hunger for all the things around him. He is constantly trying to fill this void left in himself by troubling things that occur in his life. Never, it seems does he have enough to eat, his father leaving, he is powerless to help his mother, and often times is left with his little brother and the house to watch after. Wright establishes authenticity by providing the tragedies that occur over and over in his life...to the reader these kinds of things that happen to him could not possibly be made up...or if they were who would want to do so...
ReplyDeleteStraight away, the direct questions begging to be asked are these: Is Richard Wright's novel "Black Boy (American Hunger)" written in the genre of an autobiographical memoir, or is it in the genre of historical fiction? Or both? Has the psychological trauma of his childhood given us a symbolic and fictionalized autobiography written by an adult man driven to come to some sort of understanding, some sort of rationalization concerning black deprivation and hunger (literally and metaphorically), violence and humiliation using the backdrop of a Jim Crow South in the early twentieth century - OR - is it much deeper and more profound than this? Let me manifestly put forward the opinion that not only does it existentially emphasis the uniqueness (and isolation) of African-Americans, but also the uniqueness (and isolation) of the least recognized, most marginalized and traumatized members of society - children.
ReplyDeleteIt was, and is, a two-front war. Our kiddie-protagonist must not only fight the racial degradation and obstruction-inbred hatred of southern white society, but also the indifference and brutality (physical and mental) of parents and close relatives. It was inevitable that "little Richard" fought back in all his radical nihilism: cat killing, street fighting and adolescent (call into question - six year old) alcoholism. Philosophically difficult for even the so-called adults in this world, how does a child, stifled by parental and white societal authority, hungrily construct the self? Through the empirical choices and decisions he makes.
Finally, as a side-bar, I'm finding this text extremely traumatic and emotionally difficult to read. It is a forceful, passionate story; nevertheless, it is gut-wrenching... I guess it's now time to take a clue from our drunken, diminutive hero and open my bottle of good, southern sipping-whiskey to calm the mind, and soul.
I was really interested in the epigraph from Job at the beginning of Black Boy: "His strength shall be hunger-bitten, and destruction shall be ready at his side." Wright mentions the verse comes from Job, and probably most readers are familiar with the story of Job, how God put many trials upon him to test his faith. The thing is, this verse is taken out of context, as it is part of Job's friend diatribe accusing Job of wrongdoing. The speech begins with "the wicked" (that is the "His" in the verse).
ReplyDeleteMaybe Wright just found this verse and thought it was convenient (hunger images, disaster). But because the verse Wright chose is about the results of wickedness, could it also be saying something about our narrator?
I love Richard! He is such an independent little deviant as a child! He is so full of curiosity that directs him towards both street vulgarities as well as scholarly awareness. The boy is relentless in his constant pursuit for a better situation. He is quick to act and even though most of his bold actions end in beatings, it does not daze him for one in second pursuing new adventures. There is the constant repetition of hunger and beatings. However, it seems that being deprived of food rather than inflicted pain is always the worst offense.
ReplyDeleteIt struck me as odd how forgiving he was of his father in the end of chapter too. I've made myself believe it must have been more disregard than anything. I really wanted the father to suffer more than indifference. My mother was a single mother raising two children as well. I could relate with the childish ignorance of details of a "grown-up" relationship while still being in tune with the emotional repercussions. I thought that was executed very well.
As far as I've read, this book is wonderfully raw and vulgar while containing universal truths. Very compelling. Now I believe I will follow Philips advice and enjoy the rest of my evening.
I really enjoy this novel so far. It is both interesting in the racial sense and also in the psychological sense. I really enjoy the way this story is going so far because it has been interesting to see how this kid is handling everything going wrong in his life. It really is like one mishap after the other. It makes for an interesting read thus far. I feel bad for him though because he has this childish innocence that keeps getting destroyed. To me he is a very sympathetic character. It's obvious that he handles the events in his life by acting out. (I.E. killing a cat, drinking as a 6-year old...) It makes me wonder where this is going to go later on in the story.
ReplyDeleteHis thirst for knowledge really interests me. This little kid is so infatuated with everything around him, with learning, with people. You can't help but like him. I agree when a blogger above mentioned that his hunger is never satiated. And I believe it is to fill an emotional void in his life. Again, it will be interesting to see how this plays out further on in the novel.
I was surprised by the many MANY references to hitting in the beginning of the book. It was evident that Wright's family believed in corporal punishment. I think the author discusses these emotionally and physically painful situations as a way to convince the reader that this book is an authentic autobiography. In addition, this develops a connection between author and reader early on. These descriptions made me sympathetic toward Wright, especially as young Richard. Also, the scene in which young Richard visits his father to ask for money to move to Arkansas was almost more heart-wrenching. I am emotionally invested in the well-being of this boy, but not only because of his less-than-ideal home life; Our main character is undeniably likeable. I found myself laughing at the moments when he would talk before thinking. I wonder if that is a permanent character trait...
ReplyDeleteWright relates that throughout his time in the orphan house, hunger and fear were “the most abiding feeling [he] had each day”. Indeed, hunger and fear drive the entire central conflict of Wright’s autobiography to this point: that of utter paralysis. We see over and over again young Richard’s inability to act or react as various adults exhort a particular response from him.
ReplyDeleteWright begins with his accidental burning down of his house so that the reader may wonder from the start at the boy’s irrational immobility at key moments, in this case at the moment when his life is in danger; he only fears being beaten. Fear and hunger join forces in Memphis, when in the face of a gang Richard must overcome the former to satisfy the latter. This is a small victory for him, one which is quickly overshadowed again by his paralysis in the classroom, first in Memphis and then years later in West Helena. Richard resents this quality, at least as he observes it in others, which we learn from his being ‘irked” by the “ceaseless talk and no action” that is a constant occurrence in his household. But it is certainly deeply ingrained within himself. His fear clings to everything unfamiliar, and remains generally without direction until his “first baptism of racial emotion” (the murder of Uncle Hoskins), which serves to focus his fear on the “invisible whites.” He refers to them abstractly, because he “had never in [his] life been abused by whites, but [he] had already become as conditioned to their existence as though [he] had been the victim of a thousand lynchings.” His conviction is such that when faced with a white mob he believes he would shoot or be shot. I wonder, now that we can see the course of Richard’s fear, how his hunger will creep back into play to do something about it.
Hunger in this text is used as a dehumanizing agent, making Richard exceedingly impulsive out of circumstance. We must take everything we read through the eyes of the title: not only is this a novel of racial discrimination, but also it is one of common american themes: hunger, not just in the physical sense, for there is certainly that too, but also in the desire for knowledge, for the desire of escape. Wright is representing his race in literary form, and taking all of the hostilities and hypocrisies of the time into account, we can see why he might choose as its avatar a small, helpless boy. It is in the material world, where Richard has no power, and in the immaterial where he is king. "Because I had no power to make things happen outside of me in the objective world, I made things happen within" (Wright 72-73). It is from this "hunger" that Richard is engulfed by literature, by the superstitions, and finally by racial division, with which he has no further information than heresay and rumor. Everything is swallowed by the dream, the romantic and the terrible, and purged by the real world in which Richard can't fit. Richard is a victim of his curiosity, not only unable to understand certain things, but kept out of the loop of knowledge. The frustration of Richard is real enought to be felt through the words, especially during his anxiety attacks, for he is truly incapable of adhering to certain social constructs out of sheer terror of the situation. I don't know, my mind may change next wednesday.
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