Big Boy Leaves Home (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Richard Wright
- First Published: 1936
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The early twentieth century
- Setting: The American South
- Principal Characters: Big Boy, Bobo, Lester, Buck, Bertha Harvey, Jim Harvey, Liza Morrison, Saul Morrison, Lucy Morrison, Will Sanders
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, Children, Dogs, Adolescence, Sex or sexuality, South or Southerners, Violence, Swimming or swimmers, Shooting
- Locales: South (U.S.)
The Story
The story is divided into five distinct sections. The first opens on a hot day, as four adolescent African American boys laugh and play in the woods, singing and joking about sexually related matters and tussling and rolling around in the grass like young pups. In the second section, they arrive at a swimming hole, where they are determined to swim despite its no-trespassing sign, which clearly tells them that “Ol man Harvey don erllow no niggers t swim in this hole.” After playfully frolicking in the water, the boys dry themselves in the sun—black and naked....
[The entire page is 1342 words long]
See Also:
Richard Wright (Censorship--Ready Reference series)Richard Wright (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Richard Wright (Short Fiction)Richard Wright (Long Fiction)Richard Wright (Identities and Issues)Theory of Short Fiction (Topical Overview--Short Fiction)
- Add Big Boy Leaves Home to your favorites