Black Boy | Grandma Bolden Wilson

Richard opens his novel with Granny's white, ill, face. This face disturbs Richard as a little boy because he fails to see how such a white-skinned person could be 'black'. The most important tension Richard holds with Grandma, however, is neatly summed up at the start of the fourth chapter: "Granny was an ardent member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and I was compelled to make a pretense of worshipping her God, which was her exaction for my keep." Ardent is not a strong enough word. Grandma is consumed by her belief in religion and its promise to reward her in the hereafter for the...

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