Black Boy is Richard Wright's memoir of his childhood and youth in the American South, from early years in Mississippi and Arkansas to his departure for the North. It describes hunger, family hardship, a strict religious household, and the constant pressure of racial segregation and violence. Above all it shows a boy discovering books and the power of words, and trying to become a writer in a world that discouraged him. Written with candour and vivid detail, it is both a personal story and a record of life under Jim Crow, and it remains one of the central American autobiographies.
Quotes
I soon made myself a nuisance by asking far too many questions of everybody. Every happening in the neighborhood, no matter how trivial, became my business.
All my life I have done nothing but feel and cultivate my feelings; all their lives they had done nothing but strive for petty goals, the trivial material prizes of American life. We shared a common tongue, but my language was a different language from theirs.
This business of saving souls had not ethics; every human relationship was shamelessly exploited. In essence, the tribe was asking us whether we shared its feelings; if we refused to join the church, it was equivalent to saying no, to placing ourselves in the position of moral monsters.
Watching the white people eat would make my empty stomach churn and I would grow vaguely angry. Why could I not eat when I was hungry? Why did I always have to wait until others were through? I could not understand why some people had enough food and others did not.