The Themes Of Racism In Richard Wright's Black Boy

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Recommended: Analysis of Black Boy by Richard Wright

Black Boy is an autobiography of Richard Wright 's life from his childhood growing up in the south, to him leaving the communist party. Wright writes this novel for several meaningful purposes. He demonstrates to the reader the struggle of being a black person in the south after the Civil War. Even though a numerous amount of people have obtained information about racism in the south, he displays a handful of personal situations that go more into depth about racism. He writes this novel to illustrate all the events he copes with throughout his life that demonstrates a better understanding of who this author is as a person. Richard Wright 's struggles in his childhood transpire him into the unique and memorable author he will always be remembered as. Despite Black Boy being recognized as a controversial piece of work when it was published, the significance of Wright 's experiences in the south are relevant to modern society. Richard Wright incorporates several important themes in Black Boy. One of the themes is the dangerous effects of racism. Wright displays a new interpretation of racism as he applies it to society as a whole, rather than Richard Wright expresses throughout the novel his desire to join society, but on his terms. He doesn 't want to conform to society. One event is when his grandmother allows Wright and his family to come stay with her in Jackson, Mississippi. Despite his grandmother being incredibly religious and attempting to reform him, he will not give in. His family firmly disagrees with his passion for writing. However, Wright contains his own views on life and discourages the thought of being another black person who makes little to no money. An additional event occurs when Wright becomes the Valedictorian and his principal tells him to read a certain speech or he will not graduate. Despite these threats, Wright makes his own

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