Reading And Writing In 'Black Boy' By Richard Wright

“Whenever my environment had failed to support or nourish me, I had clutched at books...” (Wright 282). Agree to disagree, but these words from Black Boy, by Richard Wright published in 1945, perfectly explain why reading and writing were the most influential feature in shaping Wright into the influential person he eventually became. Wright faced many issues growing up as a young African-American in the Deep South. He was able to overcome many of those issues by turning to reading and writing. Wright’s writing helped lay the groundwork for the Civil Rights movement; by using his personal experiences, he was able to produce an impact on future generations by bringing to light the oppression African-Americans faced in America. By conquering those hardships, Wright was to later become one of America’s first awe-inspiring African-American writers. Richard used reading as an escape into an alternate universe, and writing to free himself from the prejudice that he is constantly faced with.
As Wright stated, “It would have been impossible for me to have told anyone what I derived from these novels, for it was nothing

He uses writing as a creative outlet. And instead of turning to drugs or alcohol, he turns to literature. Wright is able to learn a wider range of human emotions. Through reading, he is able to find an alternate universe to escape from his problems, or even possibly a different universe to better understand humans. Wright’s restricted world interfered with him experiencing the opportunities and fullness of life that he becomes aware of in novels. The different perspectives he gains by reading causes Wright to look at his world in a more critical way, and springs “a new hunger” in