Richard Wright

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Student Question

What are the literary devices used in "The Kitten" by Richard Wright?

Quick answer:

In "The Kitten," Richard Wright uses conflict and symbolism as key literary devices. The conflict is evident between Richard and his father, as Richard takes his father's sarcastic command literally and kills the kitten. This act of defiance highlights Richard's struggle with authority figures. The death of the kitten symbolizes the failure to seek deeper meaning and represents the tension between power and the individual, themes that persist throughout the narrative.

Expert Answers

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The scene where Richard kills the kitten serves mostly to introduce the conflict between characters, Richard and his father. Trying to sleep so he can rest up for his job as a night porter, his father yells to the boys to kill the noisy kitten. This, of course, is not taken to be literally but Richard's act of defiance is precisely in this act of failing or being unwilling to interpret his father's words. He kills the kitten.

The situation is really amoral, neither good nor bad in itself because on the one hand Richard followed his father's command, but on the other hand he killed. The scene illustrates the conflict between characters in power and Richard himself, a tension that will follow him throughout the narrative. The death of the kitten also symbolizes the realm of the unspoken and the failure to look for deeper meaning.

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