Black Boy1

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Recommended: The work of Frederick Douglass

Black Boy1

Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright wrote memoirs recounting their experiences with racism. Though their writing styles are completely different from one another, the subjects they discuss are similar. After reading each piece they have both made me empathize with their feelings, however different their lives are from mine. Their memoirs, My Bondage My Freedom and Black Boy, provide insightful images of the racist and cruel treatment these writers experienced. Despite all of their stylistic differences, after both excerpts I understand the passion they felt for the hatred they endured.

The variation of the writers’ use of quotation marks provides insight to the degree of formality that Wright and Douglass express. Wright uses quotations frequently and exclusively in dialogue. Included within the quotes are the unjust requests, unfair news, and degrading remarks that infuriated him.

“‘Hello, Ned. What’s new?’ I asked.

‘You’ve heard, haven’t you?’ he asked.

‘About what?’

‘My brother, Bob?’

‘No, what happened?’

Ned began to weep softly.

‘They killed him,’ he managed to say.

‘The white folks?’ I asked in a whisper, guessing.

He sobbed his answer. Bob was dead; I had met him only a few times, but I felt that I had known him through his brother (p. 382).”

I feel as though I can hear the words just as he did. Richard Wright’s use of quotations is effective in creating an informal tone and expressing his feelings of powerlessness. It is a very effective tool for an empathetic reaction from the reader.

Douglass’ use of quotation marks is quite opposite from Wright’s. Screaming and song are only in quotes to place emphasis on the importance of the information he includes. “Let my mammy go”-“let my mammy go”, a child screams (p. 143). His economical use of quotes makes each outburst extremely powerful and passionate. This shout of terror makes it easy to feel the urgency Douglass felt.

Their use of “I” also attributes to the greater understanding of their cruel experiences. Frederick Douglass rarely refers to himself with “I”. He does, however, mention incidents that had a direct effect on him.

“Although my old master- Capt. Anthony- gave me at first, (as the reader will have already seen,) very little attention, and although that little was remarkably mild and gentle description, a few months only were sufficient to convince me that mildness and gentleness were not the prevailing or governing traits of his character (p.

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