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.
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