Black Boy by Richard Wright Argumentative

A completely different world in which a present day teenagers mind will never be able to grasp, is the kind of place in which Richard’s life revolved around in the book Black Boy by Richard Wright. A lot has change during the century in which Richards was shaped up in and the one in which this youth lives now. He lived a harsh live in where everybody was his enemy with the exception of his own mother and brother. He had to plan out every movement he made and thing he said

Richard was looked down upon by his grandmother, grandfather, aunt, and uncle. Richard never was as religious as the rest of his family and he was highly disliked for having that trait. His grandmother would always try to get him to believe in god by taking him to church every Sunday and by following the lord’s laws like not working on Sunday. Aunt Addie was also religious and so Richard was put into the Christian Church she taught at. She didn’t want the rest of her kids to think she gave special treatment to Richard for being family, so she was extra harsh on him. Grandpa and Uncle Tom both weren’t fans of Richard because he didn’t let himself get beat and acted as if he was a man already.

It was hard for Richard to keep a job when he first started working. He did not know how to act in front of white people. White people felt superior to black people and Richard could not act that way. Richard would usually say something wrong during a conversation with a white person and even sometimes when he didn’t do anything he was not liked. For example when he worked in a store he would not act like the rest of the black people working there and that would frustrate his white boss since he had no reason to hit Richard. After a while the boss went up to Richard and fired him for not acting like a black person should be.

In some occasion he wasn’t even accepted by the children of his own race. Some of the kids that went to church went up to him and try to make him believe in god. They would tell him that they only wanted the best for him and wanted to save him. The kids at school thought he was dumb for not reading the speech that the principle made for him. They thought he was ignorant for not being smart enough to listen for a change and do what is best for his future. When Richard wrote a story on the local newspaper many kids questioned him on the reason for him doing so and for other reasons.

There were a few exceptions in the people that Richard knew throughout his life. His boss, Mr. Crane, gave Richard a job and tried to show him the optical trade. Even after Richard got threatened to leave the job, Mr. Crane offered to help him and to still show him the trade. Mr. Falk was generous enough in lending Richard his library card for he could expand his knowledge. When Richard moved to Memphis, he was able to find a home with Mrs. Moss. She would always offer Richard food and even helped him by lowering his rent while he got a job. Bess was more than friendly to Richard. The day the he arrived at her house she wanted to marry him but her plans failed due to Richard’s desire on not wanting to marry so quickly with a stranger.

The world was a different place a century ago. The color that people were born with decided if they were going to live a wealthy and easy life or a harsh and poverty life. Richard had to overcome many challenges that life had thrown at him. It made it even more difficult with the knowledge that he had acquired from school, since he knew how the enemy thought.