Pride Concept in Wright’s “Black Boy”

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Black Boy written by Richard Wright is a masterful recording of the autobiographical author’s life story. The work takes a significant place in the world of Black Art and Literature. Wright managed to reflect the episodes from his personal life influencing the fate and the character of the novel’s hero. The central point of the story in concentrated on the concept of “pride” following the actions of Richard, the protagonist of the story.

Main body

Black Boy is the reflection of the American regime treating black people as the citizens of the second class. Richard experienced two basic system forces of the environmental social position in the country that is “language and hunger”. The theme of the American oppression was closely interacted with inner fight and moral instability of the protagonist. He struggles for his place in the society trying to show his individuality and morality. Different forms of oppressions suffered during the character’s period of life formed inner strength and pride expressed through his behavior and actions towards other people surrounding him. The expression of the pride by Richard is closely connected with centralization of the race problem in the society of that time. From the very childhood the social oppression follows Richard. He watched the hatred of white people towards black ones; he experienced a lot of violence and misunderstanding. All these factors can explain the pride dominance in the character of Richard. The concept of pride described in the text is the reason for the character’s brave actions.

The reader has an opportunity to observe decisive actions of the protagonists who criticizes even his boss and his treatment of the black people. Richard’s pride influenced his actions. This feature of his became the reason of his troubles in the society. Richard had a reputation of the troublemaker and this fact was widely spread among the white employers. When Griggs stresses that Richard is to learn how to feign humility and shallow his pride in order to survive in the world of white people. Constant racism threat is the strong obstacle on the way of Richard’s happy life in the society. He refuses to shallow his pride and hopes for showing that he has a place in the world he lives in.

“But I, who stole nothing, who wanted to look them straight in the face, who wanted to talk and act like a man, inspired fear in them…” (Wright, 219).

Despite all his troubles Richard’s pride makes him a really strong person who is able to resist cruelty of white population. When Richard finds a job at the hotel he is amused for taking pride of having gonorrhea. Racial pride expressed by Richard makes him struggle against white culture which is the dominant one. The theme of hunger highlights the intellectual hunger suffering by the protagonist during the whole story. White culture brings emotional dissatisfaction to Richard. He realizes the fact that in order to survive he should break all his principles and live in accordance with the accepted rules in the white society. Richard’s pride does not allow him to return to his previous job where he is expected to be stupid and subservient. Nevertheless it is impossible to avoid prejudice; the level of prejudice became more vivid when Richard got familiar with the white people’s treatment of the black society. Thus, for example, he is ignored in giving the medical help; this episode helped Richard to understand a lot about the culture of the white culture.

The pride in the character of Richard influenced his decisions and actions. It managed him for unacceptable behavior; his actions showed white people some kind of rebellion and disobedience. Besides his pride causes a lot of difficulties in his relations with own family. The main reason for this was his inability to follow their views and obey their actions. As a result he receives punishments in the form of beating and violence. For example, the case of Richard’s ignorance of his uncle’s order resulted in a serious quarrel and threatening:

‘If you touch me, I’ll cut you! Maybe I’ll get cut too, but I’ll cut you, so help me God, – said Richard” (Wright, 175).

The analysis of Richard’s actions allowed the readers to evaluate the role of his pride in the life and its influence on his relations with the society. It should be noted that though pride makes Richard strong and independent in his moral views, it plays a negative role for his position and atmosphere of life. The problem was that one person could not resist the whole society facing prejudiced attitude towards black people. Richard behaved being among white people as if he did not notice and take into account the position of the black society at that time. He tried not to show the level of inequality between the representatives of different social cultures which resulted in constant troubles and humiliations.

Conclusion

Thus, to make a conclusion it is important to stress that the novel Black Boy written by Richard Wright is a bright reflection of the race discrimination suffered by black people in America. The author managed to show how one person can struggle for his place in the society and what his pride can result in. It is important to stress that the concept of pride was shown by the author in order to underline the strong and brave character presented in Richard. Despite the troubles and misunderstandings caused by Richard’s expression of pride, it allowed to see the hero’s desire to stand his ground and defend his nation from humiliation and sufferings.

References

Wright, Richard. Black Boy. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, pp. 448. 1998.

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Pride Concept in Wright’s “Black Boy”

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