One main point of the United States Constitution was missing from the Jim
Crow South: equality. The Constitution clearly states that "all men are
created equal," but in the Jim Crow era blacks were continuously
persecuted for something that would be acceptable in today's society. In the
early 20th century the South was a place of racial prejudice, discrimination,
and hate; blacks could be punished for simply looking at a white person in the
wrong manner. Punishments included arrest, beating, even lychings were a
common part of the age. This is how life was while Richard Wright was growing
up; but in his autobiography Black Boy we learn that despite his being a black
boy in the Jim Crow South, born on a Mississippi plantation, he is eventually
able to achieve success. Although independence was a crucial factor that
enabled Richard Wright to succeed, his rebelliousness, intelligence, and
perseverance were also important contributing factors.
Richard Wright was an independent person by nature. Throughout the book
Richard never seemed to have an extreme emotional attachment to anyone. It was
as if he did not need or want anyone's assistance or approval, except his own.
Ever since Richard was very young he was forced to be independent. When he
mother had her stroke, Richard was forced to take charge and become the person
of the house and he would accept no one's help. "Though I was a child, I
could no longer feel as a child, could no longer react as a child...When the
neighbor's offered me food, I refused, already ashamed that so often in my
life I had to be fed by strangers."(pg.97) While Richard was living at
his Granny's his independence really started to show through. All Richard ever
thought about was leaving to go to the North; especially after being ridiculed
for writing his story, The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre. No one supported him.
He wanted to be able to do what he wanted to, by himself. "I drea! med of
going north and writing books and novels."(pg.186) Once Richard was on
his own he felt free of the burden, of other people's opinions that had tied
him down his entire life.
Along with independence, his rebelliousness was another beginning point of
Wright's drive to make it in a white man's world. The very first sign we see
of the rebel in Wright is when he is only four years old. Richard and his
brother are playing with a stray cat one day when his father orders them to
get rid of the cat because it is making a lot of noise and Mr. Wright is
trying to sleep, he even remarks, "Kill that damn thing!" (pg.18)
That is just what Richard intends to do. He knows his father was just speaking
figuratively because he was upset, but Richard also knows that if his father
could not punish Richard without risking his authority. A second point at
which Richard shows the rebellion in him was when he was about to graduate
from the ninth grade. Richard was chosen as valedictorian of his class. As
class valedictorian, Richard was responsible for delivering a speech at his
graduation, to be held at one of the local public auditoriums. One day shortly
before! the graduation ceremony is scheduled to take place Richard is summoned
to the principal's office. The principal hands Richard a speech he has
prepared for Richard to read. Richard has already written his one speech and
refuses to read the principal's work. When told that he will not be allowed to
graduate without abiding the principal and reading his speech, Richard's
reaction is: "...this ninth-grade diploma isn't going to help me much in
life. I'm not bitter about it, it's not your fault. But I'm just not going to
do things this way." Again, Richard has triumphed over an adult, this
time simply by defying an adult's decree and doing the right thing.
Being an independent and rebellious youth, Richard also became a success
due to his intelligence. Richard's intelligence was not only acquired but also
gifted. As a very young boy without any formal education he already had a real
hunger for knowledge and desired to learn all, and anything, he could.
Richard's aptitude was first described in Black Boy at the age of four. One
morning Mrs. Wright informed Richard that while she was at work coal that she
ordered was to be delivered to the house and that Richard would be responsible
for paying the man. When the coal man arrived with the delivery, Richard gave
him the money that his mother had left. When the man asked how much change he
owed Richard, Richard replied that he did not know, he could not count. So the
man began to teach Richard to count.
"He counted to ten and I listened carefully; then he asked me to count
alone and I did. He then made me memorize the words twenty, thirty, forty
etc., then told me to add one, two, three, and so on. In about an hour's time
I had learned to count to a hundred...when my mother returned from her job
that night I insisted that she stand still and listen while I counted to one
hundred. She was dumbfounded. After that she taught me to read, told stories.
On Sundays I would read the newspapers with my mother guiding me and spelling
out the words."(pg.30)
Richard had not only learned to count in less than an hour but he was also
able to read the newspaper at the age of four.
His ability to persevere also guided Richard toward his prosperity. There
were many, many episodes in the life of Richard Wright that would have slowed
down or completely halted most people; but not Richard himself. Richard was a
fighter and no matter was obstacle he faced, he knocked it right down and
continued. Like his characteristics of rebelliousness and intelligence, the
perseverance in Richard's personality began at an exceedingly young age.
Richard was four (as he was when his rebelliousness and intelligence were
first discovered by the reader) when he faced his first physical interference
in life. Richard's mother notified him that it would now be him job to do the
shopping. The first time he was to do the shopping on his own, Richard set on
his way with his basket on his arm. When he reached the corner he was suddenly
knocked down and robbed by a gang of boys. Richard ran home and told his
mother. She sent him right back out again. This time the boy's beat! him and
again took his money. When Richard returned home again his mother's reaction
was not what he expected. "Don't you come in here...You just stay right
where you are. I'm going to teach you this night to stand up and fight for
yourself....Don't you come into this house until you've gotten those
groceries."(pg.24) She handed Richard some more money, and a stick, told
him that if the boys bothered him again to fight back and then she sent him on
his way. We the boys attacked him again Richard fought back and sent them
running home to their mothers. Richard was taught perseverance by his mother,
and that stuck with him throughout his life as one of his top qualities.
To sum things up, the rebellious nature in Richard Wright was a main reason
why he was able to overcome his background and become a successful writer. The
fact that he was independent, intelligent, and had sense of perseverance also
aided in his mastery. By reading Black Boy it becomes clear to the reader how
life can before not only a black boy in the Jim Crow self but how vexatious it
can be for any pre-judged minority. Black Boy is able to teach readers how-to
and how-not-to treat people. The story of Richard Wright will presumably teach
someone who is racist that there is no place in the world for racism. Richard
is able to show the reader that people all have the same feelings and are as
alike on the inside as they are different on the outside.
