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Prejudice And Racism In Richard Wright's Black Boy

565 Words3 Pages

"Black boy" was written by Richard Nathaniel Wright. In this novel, he talks about his life and describes all the events that took place in it. Richard was a black boy that was born in September 4, 1908, in Mississippi. He suffered of prejudice throughout his juvenile years. Richard was inspired to write this piece to show the world how racism can affect one's life. He wanted his book to be an eye-opener at the time. The author had to undergo many situations and changes throughout his life such as: hunger, racism and constantly having to move from place to place due to economic instability.

The book depicts how a black American teenager lived his life during the Great Depression. Richard struggled with a severe lack of food throughout the years of his childhood. "Hunger had always been more or less at my elbow when I played," he says, "but now I began to wake up at night to find hunger standing at my bedside, staring at me gauntly" (Wright 156). The author struggled with ravenousness after his dad left him at the age of six. From there on, his mother was not able to supply food for the three members of the family. Richard constantly walked in and off of jobs to try to supply for his family. As the story goes, he describes how much racism and prejudice affected his life as a teenager struggling to supply for his family. …show more content…

The more Richard searched for occupations, the more he faced situations in which his race is oppressed. "Having been thrust out of the world because of my race, I had accepted my destiny by not being curious about what shaped it." (Wright

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It did not… I tried eating my soup faster, but it was no use” (Wright). These quotes display how Richard feels as if he is behind in life, as he comes from a poor family and is struggling with problems such as hunger and illnesses. Richard despises authority figures because

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