Richard Wright's Black Boy: The Meaning of American Hunger

Black Boy: The Meaning of American Hunger

When a person thinks about hunger, food comes to mind. We never think of hunger as anything else. In Richard Wright's book titled "Black Boy (American Hunger)", a young boy faces many different types of hunger. He refers to the phrase "American Hunger" throughout his book. I feel that the "American Hunger" which he is referring to is the hunger to be considered an American and be treated as an equal. Throughout his life he was treated as if he were from another planet. He was always considered to be different, an outcast and a loser. He felt the need to be a part of the so-called American Culture. He wanted to be able to do what the white children did. He wanted to be able to go to school, to learn, to read, have friends, have a job; but because he was an African American he could not. This is what I will be discussing in this paper his intellectual hunger.

Richard was so eager to learn that he kept constantly asking questions, and if his questions were left unanswered he would let his imagination take over.. He would try to find work in which he would be able to read some of the books. His family and relatives refused to let him learn. There is one incident in which his schoolteacher read to him. His grandmother got angry and said that reading was devils work. Through out his childhood he heard many terms and phrases. He never understood what they meant but once they were said he knew if they were good or bad. For example, when Richard was taking a bath and his grandmother came in to scrub his backside, Richard replied with, "When you get through, kiss back there." This is just one of the many phrases he said in which he did not know the meaning. Through his eagerness to learn he began to understand himself, other blacks, and whites better. He continues to learn and to play dumb for his own survival. His self education began when a co-worker lent Richard his library card to read Mencken's essays. He feels that his dreams and his stories in which he reads are an escape for him. He wants to fit in with others and be able to be apart of America.