Richard Wright's Black Boy: The Struggle To Fit In

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The Struggle to Fit In
Racism is a major problem in society. There are multiple types of discrimination around the world. The most common type of racism in the United States is the discrimination between blacks and whites. In Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Richard experiences the true racism. He struggles as a young black boy, to find a way to fit in. He undergoes many trials of racism in the book, and finds his way to overcome his problems. Richard Wright undergoes a change of awareness towards being a Negro by feeling a new hunger, a hunger for freedom and acceptance, and he tries to conceal his feelings towards whites to protect himself. Deep in Richard’s heart is his hunger to be free, and to be treated fairly. To be treated just like …show more content…
“Whenever I saw him I felt in a queer way that he was my enemy, for he knew how I felt and the safety of my life in the South, depended upon how well I concealed from all whites what I felt” (Wright 233). Richard Wright had to conceal his feelings from whites because he had learned from past experiences earlier in his life that if the wrong word slipped out there would be consequences. The quote also tells the reader that Richard felt that whites were his enemy. Richard had to live a more secretive life. He had to hide his feelings from whites, because if his thoughts were negative towards whites, he would be punished for it, just like his past experiences. “I had so far been successful in hiding my thoughts and feelings from them, but I knew that I would create hostility if I went about this business of reading in a clumsy way” (Wright 245). In the society Richard lived in, black kids weren’t educated. So, Richard reading books was very weird in his society. His life depended on keeping his reading a secret from the whites. This quote also shows Richard’s progress in being successful from concealing his feelings. In conclusion, Richard has dramatically changed his attitude around white people, and this has helped him be safe. In the book Black Boy, Richard Wright adapts to being a black boy, by concealing his feelings
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