How Expectations Changed In Richard Wright's Black Boy

Although expectations for African Americans have changed a great deal since the 1900’s, the standards society had for African Americans caused massive division between blacks and whites. From education, to language, to violence and crime, African Americans were expected to behave and grow up, and behave much differently than white people. In Richard Wright’s Black Boy we can see these prominent expectations through the childhood of Wright himself. Wright shows that growing up with unjust expectations will lead to a life of division.
In Black Boy we see a very clear difference between Richard and the majority of other African Americans who accept society’s expectations for them. Even from the beginning, Richard can see how different he is

from the people surrounding him. For example, "I began to be aware of myself as a distinct personality striving against others.

I held myself in, afraid to act or speak until I was sure of my surroundings, feeling most of the time that I was suspended over a void" (30). His differing personality and beliefs cause division, and cause him to have a hard time understanding his peers, family, and most other people around him, because he doesn’t agree with the expectations society has for black people. Another example is when Richard says "I longed to be among them, yet when with them I looked at them as if they were a million miles away. I had been kept out of their world too long to ever be able to become a real part of it" (151). This shows that although Richard wanted to fit in, he was too different than the other black children to be accepted among them. Because Richard wasn’t accepted, he became divided from the other black children. Additionally, growing up in the Jim Crow South, Richard is expected to be very submissive to white people; a concept he cannot accept. For example, his friend Griggs knows that he has trouble fitting in, and

finding a job so he tries to help Richard. “When you’re in front of white people, think before you act, think before you speak. Your way of doing things is all right among our people, but not for white people. They won’t stand for it” (184). Richard can’t maintain a job because has a hard time seeing how whites are so different from blacks, and therefore doesn’t see why he should treat them differently. In every aspect of his life, Richard is divided from everyone else because he believes the expectations people have for him are unjust
Richard is also divided from his family because of their differing beliefs and expectations.

Ever since Richard was born he has been very curious and always wants to gain information. His curiosity divides him from his family because they expect him to just accept whatever they tell him and not ask questions. Richard always got into trouble with his family for having differing beliefs. “Then she struck at me with the switch and I dodged and stumbled into a corner. She was upon me, lashing me across the face. I leaped, screaming, and ran past her and jerked open the kitchen drawer; it spilled to the floor with a thunderous sound. I grabbed up a knife and held it ready for her” (108). When violent altercations like this happen so often in a family, it is easy to see how Richard becomes divided from them. He will not accept what his family believes in, and because he believes that their expectations for him are unjust, he isolates himself from them. Another example is after Richard went to Uncle Tom’s house to bring the news of his grandfather’s death and his Uncle got mad for not being more sensitive about the death. Richard says "I walked home slowly, asking myself what on earth was the matter with me, why I never seemed to do things as people expected them" (143). Even when Richard tries to please his family, he is just too different to satisfy them. He doesn’t conform to their expectations and this creates tension and division among the

family.
Wright shows that if you don’t conform to society’s standards while growing up, you will live a life of division. In Richard Wright’s memoir Black Boy, he was born very curious, and different from the people who surrounded him. He never learned to accept expectations people had for him, and that created division in every aspect of his life. Although modern day expectations for African Americans, and people in general are much more flexible, growing up with expectations you believe are unjust will cause extreme division, no matter what time period you live in.