Richard Wright's Autobiography "Black Boy"
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Black Boy, an autobiography of Richard Wright, contains twenty chapters with two parts, was divided by him arriving in Chicago, described his miserable childhood and life in Memphis from chapter 1 to chapter 14, recording his early adulthood in Chicago from chapter 15 to chapter 20.
He composed his own life experiences in this book in chronological order, starting the story with the fire he set accidentally when he was merely four then ended with him being a communist writer getting kicked out of the Communist Party though he was not defeated and still remained strong will.
The author used many foreshadowing techniques in this novel, and gave the readers further explanations of consequences of his major early life events. An example was his relationship with his dad who had left the family when Richard Wright became an adult.
The novel covers the time period approximately from 1912 to 1937, age 4 to 29, which reflects his path of transforming and maturing from a impulsive, naive, and hysterical child growing up in a extremely horrifying and conservative southern black family to a vigorous, intellectual but cynical communist writer in the free North, seeking change and reform to the corrupt society having racism and other injustice issues existing everywhere.
His doubt of authority, suspicion of religion, and intolerance of racial discrimination had not changed as he grew, and persuaded his dreams of writing, moving to freer North, and fighting for equality. The conflicts and problems he encountered in childhood thus shaped his writing style naturally, as a reader can notice easily from Richard Wright’s powerful words. The point of view in this book is first person since it is Wright’s autobiography,
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throughout the whole book without any shifting on point of view. It was written in reminiscence perspective and past tense. He acted as the protagonist but also an observer in order to expressed his feelings, describing his
Black Boy, an autobiography of Richard Wright, contains twenty chapters with two parts, was divided by him arriving in Chicago, described his miserable childhood and life in Memphis from chapter 1 to chapter 14, recording his early adulthood in Chicago from chapter 15 to chapter 20.
He composed his own life experiences in this book in chronological order, starting the story with the fire he set accidentally when he was merely four then ended with him being a communist writer getting kicked out of the Communist Party though he was not defeated and still remained strong will.
The author used many foreshadowing techniques in this novel, and gave the readers further explanations of consequences of his major early life events. An example was his relationship with his dad who had left the family when Richard Wright became an adult.
The novel covers the time period approximately from 1912 to 1937, age 4 to 29, which reflects his path of transforming and maturing from a impulsive, naive, and hysterical child growing up in a extremely horrifying and conservative southern black family to a vigorous, intellectual but cynical communist writer in the free North, seeking change and reform to the corrupt society having racism and other injustice issues existing everywhere.
His doubt of authority, suspicion of religion, and intolerance of racial discrimination had not changed as he grew, and persuaded his dreams of writing, moving to freer North, and fighting for equality. The conflicts and problems he encountered in childhood thus shaped his writing style naturally, as a reader can notice easily from Richard Wright’s powerful words. The point of view in this book is first person since it is Wright’s autobiography,
Lee 2
throughout the whole book without any shifting on point of view. It was written in reminiscence perspective and past tense. He acted as the protagonist but also an observer in order to expressed his feelings, describing his