Although Chapter 1 establishes the conflicts basic to the book as a whole, it does so primarily in terms of Richard’s immediate environment. His mother’s efforts to make him comply with the standards set by a pre-individualistic society succeed only insofar as Richard can take care of himself. They fail, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 2Summary and Analysis Chapter 1
The first chapter of the book establishes its theme and conflicts. It is not necessary to search for symbolic meanings. Each incident describes, in close detail, the emotions of the narrator. It is enough to be sensitive to his emotions and to the situations from which they spring. Since he […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Chapter 1Character List
Nathaniel Wright Richard’s father, a victim of the Great Migration, who leaves his family early in Richard’s life. Alan Wright Richard’s brother; for most of his life, he lives in Detroit with Aunt Maggie. Grandpa Ella’s father, a disabled veteran of the Union Army. Granny Ella’s mother, a Seventh-Day Adventist […]
Read more Character ListAbout Black Boy
Written while Wright was a fervent Communist, the book explores the theory of human behavior determined by environment. Yet, innate in its fatalism is the author-narrator’s ultimate escape from a rigid set of rules for survival. In Wright’s boyhood, there was virtually no chance for a personality such as his […]
Read more About Black BoyBook Summary
The story begins when four-year-old Richard sets fire to his grandmother’s house in Jackson, Mississippi, and, as punishment, is nearly beaten to death by his mother. He recovers, and the brutal punishment establishes in Richard an ability to survive any circumstance. The family then moves to Memphis, Tennessee, where Richard’s […]
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