Hunger In Richard Wright's Black Boy

Throughout Black Boy we see Richard Wright’s hunger for many different things in his life. Within the entire story, he lives his life very hungry, in the literal sense, because he is a poor black boy growing up in the South, which makes him have to go out and work for money. Wright goes on and tells us that he has the hunger for knowledge and to keep on learning more to become the better person that he knows he is capable of being. Hunger plays one of the biggest roles in Richard’s life to form his cultural identity and it separates him from other Southern blacks because he has a deep drive to go somewhere. Literal hunger plays an important role in the story because it helps his determination of success become larger and larger. We see him
Before living at his aunt and uncle’s house
I think at this particular time, he begins his journey onto becoming a stronger person than how he was before. He knows that he cannot go on with this kind of lifestyle and he is the only one that can change it and make it better. Even though he may still be oblivious to some other things going on around him, Richard knows what is important, which is his health because that is what really matters. He must then figure out what to do in order to get what he wants and how he is going to do it. You can definitely tell that Richard is a smart boy because he feels and thinks very differently than other kids his age. I think that other kids his age would not actually “pause and think” of what was actually happening to them like Richard does. None of them would have the drive to do something about their “hunger”, which is why he is able to strive above his peers and begin his path to a successful