Morals

I think that Richard Wright taught himself his own morals. Richard did not really have adults supervising and teaching him in his life. The article that we read discussed the idea that morals are taught in school and church. Richard was never put into a school for a full year until he was so old that he already had taught himself his morals. Richard went to church but he did not really understand the purpose of going which leads me to believe that he did not get any type of morals from attending church with his grandmother. 

Richard taught himself right from wrong during the book. For example, he knew that letting white people step on him was wrong and he tried to fight that (even though he let them from time to time). Richard also knew that stealing money at the end of chapter one was not acceptable and he attempted to repent and he claimed that he would never do that again. Richard also hurt the cat and from that he learned right from wrong. Richard's experiences in life are what make him learn his own morals.

Realization

At the end of the book Wright has been chewed up by his former friends in the communist party. They have been trying to get him fired from his jobs because they believe that he went against him. Wright knows that in order to get past this he must try to reconcile with the communist party. He attempts to do just this but his former friends will not even talk to him. Wright then goes to a parade where two white communist members throw him out of the march, and black communists members sit there and do nothing. 

At the end of the book Richard realizes that he must give up his dream of bringing unity and equality to the whites and the blacks. He instead believes that he must "build a bridge of words between me and the outside." Richard thinks that the only way that he can help the situation that surrounds him and follows him in every corner is by writing about his experiences and about the emotions that he has gone through. Instead of fighting it he is exposing the issue. 

Artists and Politicians

I agree with Wright that artists and politicians stand at opposite poles. Artists use writing, painting, sculpting, and other artistic things to express their own views about what is going on around them. Wright considers himself to be an artist, as opposed to a politician, because he is trying to get his own ideas out into his communist group. Politicians differ from artists because they are trying to make changes for the entire good of the people, in most cases at least. Wright feels that artists and politicians differ because of their different approaches to dealing with situations. For example artists tend to be very idealistic where as politicians tend to analyze each little bit of information. I think that artists and politicians differ greatly because they have such different views on the same topics. In the end they are fighting for the same goals but the difference is how they choose to fight for that goal. 

Black Boy

 I think that one person can easily influence the actions of a group. If a person is strong enough in their opinions then they will easily be able to persuade an entire group. In Black Boy Richard was persuaded to believe what the people in his 'communist' group believes. He also expressed some of his own opinions and the people believed what it was that he was saying. In my opinion it is easier for a group to influence one person as opposed to a person influencing an entire group because it takes more passion for what you are trying to convince other people about. 

I think that Black Boy is a good example of people being influenced by the ideas of one person. There are various examples of Richard influencing the lives of others and of Richard being influenced by others. 

Response

Pg. 267 Paragraph 

This paragraph shows just how let down Wright felt when he first entered the streets of Chicago. In this paragraph he discusses the idea that he could dream of nothing because he new that it would not come true. I thought that Wright would greatly enjoy Chicago because he was not segregated from the rest of society. However in this paragraph it discusses the notion that Wright being black in America meant that no matter where you were there were things that you can not do and should give up even dreaming about doing. I found that this paragraph was interesting because it showed me another side of Wright that I had not seen. I liked these series of paragraphs for that reason. This paragraph especially stood out to me because it expressed the hard time that black people had during this time period whether they lived in the North or the South.

Black Boy

 I think that the change that Wright sets in motion at the end of part one is definitely a positive one because I think that it will give Wright a chance to be truly happy and to be as successful as the time allows for him to be. Wright had decent jobs in the South but he could not cope, and should not have to cope, with the fact that white men and women are constantly belittling him and trying to make him do things that he does not want to do. Wright believes that in the North things will be different because they give black men and women better opportunities. I think that Wright will be upset by the segregation that they still have in the North but I think that he will be happy because it is not nearly as bad as the South is. Wright wants to move to the North and live with his Aunt. Eventually he is going to bring his brother and ill mother up so that they can be happy in the North as well. I think that this is a positive change because it will allow Wright to finally be happy, or happier,  with the way he is treated in society. 

Subservience

Subservience is definitely a necessary part of living. Subservience is when you obey others without questioning what they are telling you to do or how they are telling you to act. This is shown many times throughout Black Boy because Richard Wright is forced to do what the white people ask him to. For example, Shorty is one of the  few black men that works where Wright works. In order to get a quarter Shorty allows a white man to kick his butt. He did what the white man wanted and because of it he gained a quarter. Another example is when Richard and Harrison fought because the white men told them that they had to. Even though Richard did not want to fight Harrison, because he did not actually have any conflict with him, they fought. I think that this is a necessary part of living because at one point in your life you are going to have to do what someone asks of you regardless of if you want to or not. I think that this was a very prominent characteristic of black people during Wrights time because their society told them this was how they must treat white people. 

Black boy response

Wright says that, "he had begun coping with the white world too late." When he says this he means that up until this point in his life he was able to say what he wanted to the authority figures that he was surrounded by. However, during these chapters he can not do this any more because the authority figures that surrounded him where white. This meant that he had to watch what he said and how he acted because there could be very serious repercussions if one white person felt as though he disrespected them. Wright thinks that he began coping too late because he felt the urge to say what he wanted but when it came down to it he could not do this around the white people. We see this in the two chapters that we read tonight because in these chapters Wright was working in different jobs that required him respecting and listening the every wish that a white person made. This was his first real experience in that world which makes it incredibly important. 

Speech: Wright

 I think that Wright is completely justified in refusing to say the speech that his principal wanted him to say. This who issue begins when Wright is announced the valedictorian of his 9th grade class. When this happens he is told that he is allowed to write a speech to give at the graduation ceremony. Wright obviously loves writing and he was excited about the opportunity that he earned to share his writing. When he went to the principal his principal told him that he had to read the speech that he himself had written because Wright's speech was not going to be good enough. 

I think that Wright was justified in refusing to read the speech that his principal wrote because he worked hard and he eared the right to write and read his own speech to the graduating class and those who came to the ceremony. By reading the principal's speech Wright felt as though that would take away from his experience. This is why Wright was justified in his actions. 

Wright Vs. Uncle Tom

Wright was very angry with Uncle Tom during one of the chapters that we were assigned to read this weekend. He was mad with Uncle Tom because Uncle Tom tried to beat Wright for something that Wright did not do. He felt like the beating that his Uncle Tom wanted to bestow on him was ridiculous because he felt as though he had done nothing to deserve it. 

Wright then began to almost provoke his uncle Tom to beat him by calling him a stranger and how he had no right to lay a hand on him. This is justified because Wright only met his Uncle Tom one week prier to this event. I think that it was acceptable for Wright to fight off his uncle because he did nothing wrong to deserve a beating. His uncle continued to try to attack him because he felt that he was justified in doing so. This was the first time that Wright resisted a beating, when the event took place, and later did not receive a beating for his action.