class valedictorian.But he refuses to give the speech written for him by the principal. Richard has severalterrifying confrontations with whites. In the most important of these confrontations, he isforced out of a job because he dares to ask to learn the skills of the trade. Richard learnsto steal. By stealing he acquires enough money to leave the Deep South. Richard finds aplace to stay in Memphis. The owner of his rooming house encourages him to marry herdaughter. Richard takes another job with an optical company. The foreman tries toprovoke a fight between him and a black employee of another company. Richard borrowsa library card and discovers the hard-hitting style of columnist H. L. Mencken. He beginsto read voraciously. Richard leaves for Chicago at the end of the novel. Wright creates an image of himself as a boy who is sensitive to the external worldand to his own inner reality. He wants to bring to the white American audience what itmeans to be black in the white world. It discusses the main theme which have beenoccurres in many slave narratives: isolation from the mainstream society, the familysstruggle to remain united, dreams and longing for a better future, violence both againstand by blacks, the quest for literacy and freedom. Black Boy portrays the deprivationWright faces growing up. It shows poverty, hunger, lack of emotional support, miserableliving conditions, and Richard's response to these difficulties. The book also considersfamily life. For Richard, home is a place of intense emotional conflict, and his family forceshim to fight back constantly in order to be able to pursue his own path. But the family alsooffers support in times of crisis, for example, when his mother has a stroke. Many readers think the central focus of Wright's story is on his development intoan artist and intellectual. From this perspective, the book is about the influences that shapeWright's desire to be a writer, the experienc...
