The Motif of the “Black Boy” by Richard Wright

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Focus on a Motif
Black Boy’s Close Read Paragraph
Conclusion

Introduction

Black Boy is an autobiographical work by Richard Wright. The author examines his life from childhood to the times when he joined Communist Party, his adult years in Chicago. The work concerns such issues as race in the South. It was first published in 1945 clearly reflecting the streams and atmosphere of those years. This essay will reveal the motif of one close read paragraph by Richard Wright from Black Boy, the language, and the way he conveyed the following idea – Richard has been a real inventor, thirsty for new experience leader, and willing for education since childhood.

Focus on a Motif

The black boy, living in poverty since his very childhood and suffering from race discrimination ever since Afro-Americans began to rebel, Richard was a person thirsty for knowledge. He loved learning new information and senses. As a child, he was a marvelous inventor as is stated further in the close read paragraph. Richard speculated: “I lived on what I did not eat”, literally showing that reading replaces the need for food or any other physical necessity. Showing a hard life path throughout the entire work, Richard forces the reader to read between the lines of the following paragraph and understand that the protagonist was doomed to be a survivor since he was very young, this entailed his further resolute character.

Black Boy’s Close Read Paragraph

A paragraph under consideration starts with ‘I wandered listlessly about the room…’ and ends “My brother shook his head”. This is one of those parts where the author exercises his ability to capture the reader with marvelous epithets and

descriptions. So, the language is descriptive so that the reader understands the mood of Richard and overall atmosphere. He, being a four-year-old boy ‘wandered listlessly’ at the beginning, he was offended to not being allowed to fool around, yell, and scream as all kids like. The language is chosen precisely to convey the thought of complete boredom that took place in the room for Richard and his younger brother. Then some kind of interest interesting thoughts start evolving in boy’s head, the excitement builds up as Richard sees the embers, being ‘fascinated by the quivering coals’. The key word here is ‘fascinated’, it shows the evolving interest and a plan to play a game after a dull ‘room had nothing of interest’ for boys. So, with the development of excitement, the author shows the way the boy seeks for adventures, he ‘hunted around’ and found what to burn in the fire – the broom. Since ‘burning straws was a teasing kind of fun’, Richard’s brother go involved, too. So, Richard has always been a leader and initiator of things, thirsty for new experience. The next lines by the author only support the thesis that Richard was a man of utmost curiosity: ‘… I was wondering … how … white curtains would look if I lit a bunch of straws… under them ’. This is an incredible proof of Richard Wright being revolutionary.

Conclusion

It is quite possible to talk about the symbols of his life implemented in this small paragraph: ‘straws…held them to fire until they blazed’, just like his entire activity concerning the issues of race thought the life, he lit people with his ideas and beliefs. The language and phrases from the paragraph support the argument of Richard’s being rebellious since early childhood.

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The Motif of the “Black Boy” by Richard Wright

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