Plot summary
Black Boy, also known as American Hunger, is a memoir of Richard Wright's childhood and young adulthood. It splits into two parts, "Southern Night" (his childhood in the south) and "The Horror and the Glory" (his young adulthood in Chicago).
The story begins with a curious four-year-old Wright who were living in a grandmother’s household of strict and religious. He begins to dislike his surroundings, rejecting the church in favor of atheism at a young age, and choose reading instead of playing with other children. As he grows older, he feels the prevalence of racism of the 1920's south. Not only he thinks it generally unjust but he is also bothered by whites' and other blacks' desire to repress his intellectual curiosity and ability.
After his father abandons the family, young Wright often visits his sick mother, his fanatically religious grandmother, and his aunts and uncles. As he goes into the white world to looks for jobs, he meets extreme racism and violence, which lingers with him in the rest of his life. The family undergoes financial difficulties and wants to leave for the north to find opportunities. Richard and his aunt go to Chicago. But before Richard leaves for Chicago, he has to depend on stealing money and lying. He has to do things that he does not like to survive.
He thinks the north is less racist than the south and begins to establish concrete ideas about racism in America. He handles many jobs, mostly menial. He cleans floors during the day and reads books and journals during night time. His family becomes even poorer, a stroke comes to his mother, and his relatives irritate him about his atheism and point out his reading is meaningless. He works at the post office and meets white men who share his particular view of the world and religion. They invite him to the John Reed Club, an organization that influences the arts and social change. He begins to involve in a magazine called Left Front. Then, he slowly becomes participated in the Communist Party as he organizes writers and artists in the group.
He thinks he can find some friends in the party, especially among black members, but he finds them being afraid of change similar to the southern whites he had left. The Communists afraid of anyone who disagrees with the majority’s ideas, and quickly label Wright because he always questions and speaks his mind. This makes him wants to leave the party, but he is accused of trying to lead other party away from the group.
After he witnessed the black Communist tries for counter-revolutionary activity, Wright decides to leave the party. He remains labeled and threatened by the party that wants him away from various jobs and gatherings. However, he does not fight with them because he found that some agreeable ideas of the party such as unity and equality. He ends the book by using his writing to open a new way to start a revolution.
The story begins with a curious four-year-old Wright who were living in a grandmother’s household of strict and religious. He begins to dislike his surroundings, rejecting the church in favor of atheism at a young age, and choose reading instead of playing with other children. As he grows older, he feels the prevalence of racism of the 1920's south. Not only he thinks it generally unjust but he is also bothered by whites' and other blacks' desire to repress his intellectual curiosity and ability.
After his father abandons the family, young Wright often visits his sick mother, his fanatically religious grandmother, and his aunts and uncles. As he goes into the white world to looks for jobs, he meets extreme racism and violence, which lingers with him in the rest of his life. The family undergoes financial difficulties and wants to leave for the north to find opportunities. Richard and his aunt go to Chicago. But before Richard leaves for Chicago, he has to depend on stealing money and lying. He has to do things that he does not like to survive.
He thinks the north is less racist than the south and begins to establish concrete ideas about racism in America. He handles many jobs, mostly menial. He cleans floors during the day and reads books and journals during night time. His family becomes even poorer, a stroke comes to his mother, and his relatives irritate him about his atheism and point out his reading is meaningless. He works at the post office and meets white men who share his particular view of the world and religion. They invite him to the John Reed Club, an organization that influences the arts and social change. He begins to involve in a magazine called Left Front. Then, he slowly becomes participated in the Communist Party as he organizes writers and artists in the group.
He thinks he can find some friends in the party, especially among black members, but he finds them being afraid of change similar to the southern whites he had left. The Communists afraid of anyone who disagrees with the majority’s ideas, and quickly label Wright because he always questions and speaks his mind. This makes him wants to leave the party, but he is accused of trying to lead other party away from the group.
After he witnessed the black Communist tries for counter-revolutionary activity, Wright decides to leave the party. He remains labeled and threatened by the party that wants him away from various jobs and gatherings. However, he does not fight with them because he found that some agreeable ideas of the party such as unity and equality. He ends the book by using his writing to open a new way to start a revolution.