Black Boy (Magill Book Reviews)
At a glance:
- Author: Richard Wright
- First Published: 1945
- Type of Work: Autobiography
- Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography
- Subjects: African Americans, Maturation or coming of age, Language or languages, Memory, South or Southerners, Authors or writers, Prejudices or antipathies, Manners or customs, Social life, 1910’s, 1920’s, 1930’s, American Dream, Chicago, Individuality
- Locales: Arkansas, Chicago, IL, Memphis, TN, Mississippi
Much like a work of fiction, this autobiography moves by the creation of vivid scenes and characters and the repetition of several motifs. Fire, physical violence, hunger, and the power of language to transform reality are the strongest of these.
Born in 1908, Wright begins his story at age 4 when, with his grandmother ill, he amused himself and his younger brother by feeding broomstraws to the fire until, possessed by curiosity, he set the billowy white curtains ablaze and burned down half the house while he hid beneath it terrified. He received a brutal beating which caused a...
[The entire page is 654 words long]
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