Black Boy

Things seem to be looking even more bleaker for Richard in Black Boy. It has gotten to the point that Richard has basically become dead to all of his family except his mother. This is due in fact to not believing in God or “not being able to feel his presence,” thus making him shunned basically by his family. Because of the poverty that the family live in and also the strict religious backing of the house, the amount of food has always been scarce. Richard tries to find ways to get money, but he is unable to so in accordance that Saturday “must remain holy” by his grandmother, a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Finally, though at the price of becoming completely dead to his grandmother, Richard is able to work on Saturdays. He finds jobs here and there, taking whatever is available. Through these odd jobs, he finds out how the world perceives blacks truly. He also develops over time the desire to read and write stories since his grandmother considered reading non-religious books “the work of the devil.” With this thirst he finally publishes his first work in the local negro newspaper, called The Voodoo
in Hell’s Half-Acre. The book has had hints throughout that Richard is on the path to becoming a writer. I think that this is probably the most likely thing to happen in the future. He seems to have a fire under him that is quite unheard of in that day, especially in the South. The book is also now starting to foreshadow that he is about to leave and make his own in this world. The only thing that has stopped him from doing this to this point is his mother, who he is afraid to leave alone with the rest of the family. When he leaves, I predict that he will most likely head North to the big cities. He might even reunite with his brother, who was taking up North by his Aunt Maggie when their mother fell ill. There he will pursue his passion that he has developed for writing which will eventually lead to the publishing of this very book.
The issue of race is now back in the book. This topic is becoming even bigger and more apparent these later chapters. It is pretty clear that the author is trying to tell a story from a perspective that is not often seen in the history books. Seeing it from the eyes of a young, teenage, black child in the first-person point of view is not often seen in novels. He is not only telling what Richard is doing, but he is also giving his reasoning and mindset as to why he is doing it it as well. Another thing is seeing what this boy is having to go through is making me understand and feel sympathy towards what black people had to go through in that era just to survive. It said in one of the chapters that all he had to eat on was lard gravy and collard greens. Just this small detail in the book painted a picture and viewpoint for me that is not easily achieved when reading a novel. It is clearly evident in this book that Richard’s family and grandmother are deeply religious. They seem to be so far religious that they push away Richard from being able to accept God into his heart. So what if they weren’t as strictly religious as they are? If Richard had been able to find his own way towards the church and not be forced down it, would he be more willing and acceptive towards the idea of religion? Another part of the book also details how Richard’s mother has periods of rapid health improvement, followed by the immediate downfall due to another stroke. What would happen if one of these times, another stroke doesn’t relapse? Would this mean that she would be able to raise Richard differently? She alone seems to be the only reason Richard is even still in the house. Would she be able to give more guidance to Richard in the choices that he is having to make himself at a very young age? Overall this book has not been a let-down.
The chronological order the events are unfolding in a way that is making sense. There also, to me, seems to be a sense of buildup to a climax, like in a movie tends to do. One critique, however, is the continued detailed wording of some paragraphs. The wording feels sometimes like it is going into too much detail, which loses my attention at times. It still seems to be an annoyance to have to sift through paragraphs worth of wording just to get to the story. A few details would have been more than enough for a description, but pages of these unimportant details makes me lose interest quick. Though with this detailness paints a very clear picture of the setting as well as leaving very few details in question. I’ve already passed the halfway point of the book, but the excitement level has continued to remain
high!