Oppression For Richard example essay topic

easy, for some people tend to suffer different forms of oppression. In this case, it hap Growing up as a Negro in the South in the early 1900's is not that pens in the autobiography called Black Boy written by Richard Wright. The novel is set in the early part of the 1900's, somewhere in deep Jim Crow South. Richard Wright, who is obviously the main character, is also the protagonist.

The antagonist is no one person in particular, for it takes many different forms called "oppression' in general. The main character over comes this "oppression' by rebelling against the common roles of the black, Jim Crow society. Richard Wright's character was affected in early childhood by the effects of societal oppression, but he became a great American author despite these negative factors in his life. Today everyone encounters some form of oppression. One of the forms Richard is encountering is called societal oppression. As an example, after Richard sees a "black' boy whipped by a "white' man, he asks his mother why did the incident happen.

His mother says, ' ' The "white' man did not whip the "black' boy He beat the "black' boy, ' " (31). This quote is showing racism, which is one way of society keeping Richard Wright, and all other blacks in the South down. Another example is when is at the rail road station with his mother, and as they are waiting for the train, he sees something he has never seen", for the first time I noticed that there were two lines of people at the ticket window, a "white' line and a "black' line,' (55). This excerpt is demonstrating how this scene of Jim Crow laws is keeping a certain group of people apart, which is also another form of societal oppression. Societal oppression occurs again when Richard is "hanging' out with his friends, and their conversation with each other leads on to the subject of war. One of his friends really get into the subject and says, ' ' Yeah, they send you to war, make you lick them Germans, teach you how to fight and when you come back they scared of you,' " (90).

This quote means that the "white' people put the "black' people on the front line to defend our country, and when they come back, they can not accept them, therefore they oppress them in different ways, which is societal oppression. The last example happens when Richard wants to borrow a library card, and so he thinks about asking his boss. After thinking about it for a while, he knew he could not ask him, for he knows the boss is a Caucasian Baptist, and Richard thinks that he would not be able to accept the fact of a "black' boy, such as Richard, would want to read and cultivate his intelligence. This would be considered societal oppression, for he knows his boss does not want Richard to be enlightened with books, in turn keeping Richard away from the light of knowledge. These are examples of societal oppression that Richard Wright overcomes and rises to the top on his own.

Internalized oppression is a hard thing to overcome. One of the ways Richard Wright is confronted with internalized oppression is when he sees a "black' boy being beaten by a "white' man, so he automatically thinks that the "white' man is the boys father". Did not all fathers, like my father, have the right to beat their children? A paternal right was the only right, to my understanding ' (31). This excerpt is showing internalized oppression, for he thinks it is okay for a parent to abuse their child, in turn having the child think that beating a child is okay, and only a parent can do the beating, which is completely wrong.

Another case of internalized oppression occurs when Richard says a bad word, and then his Aunt Jody lectures him by saying, ' ' Richard, you are a very bad, bad boy,' " (108). Later in the passage, he also says that he does not care that he is a "bad boy. ' That states that Richard believes that he is a bad person, which means he is experiencing internalized oppression. Later in the novel, after Richard read some books, he then wants to use the words he has learned as weapons, but he could not, because by him using the words it frightened him. This is internalized oppression, for Richard thinks of the words as something sacred only white people can use. If he did use the words, he feels as though he may get into trouble.

Later in the novel, Richard tries to identify himself with a book, but he feels guilty when he does so. Therefore he acts in way so the whites will not dislike him. It is an internal oppression, for he is keeping himself down by not physically expressing his feelings that he has received from the books he has read. All of the above, are examples of which later in the novel, Richard Wright conquers are of internalized oppression. The way Richard Wright overcomes this abstract oppression is reflected upon his personality, which helps him become that great American author. One of the examples to prove this true, occurs when it was Richard's first day of school.

"During that noon hour I learned all the four-letter words describing physiological sex functions, and discovered that I had know them before A tall black boy recited a long, funny piece of doggerel, replete with filth, describing the physiological relations between men and women, and I memorized it word for word after having heard it but once", (32). This quote is showing how smart and quick-to-learn Richard is, which is a part of his personality and ability to understand. Another example happens when his Uncle Tom is about to whip Richard, so he shows the razors to his uncle. In a low voice Richard says, ' ' If you touch me, I'll cut you! Maybe I'll get cut too, but I'll cut you, so help me God,' " (175). This passage is revealing that Richard is rebellious by standing up for himself and confronting his uncle for something he did not do.

Further on, when Richard is confronted with the fact that white people like Negroes who stole from them, than to know their own true self-worth. Richard is thinking, "But I, who stole nothing, who wanted to look them straight in the face, who wanted to talk and act like a man, inspired fear in them,' (219). This passage is demonstrating how bold and brave Richard is, for he wants to stand up for himself against a white man who looked down on him. Later in the novel, Richard is pondering on what he should do in his life. He knows he can not stay in the South and willingly be kicked as Shorty had done. He would rather die, then do what Shorty has already submitted to.

This is showing how much strength and pride Richard has. These are all examples of Richard Wright's character, that has helped him become the great author that he is. Societal oppression and internalized oppression has affected Richard Wright in his early childhood years. The negative factors he has overcame throughout his life, has contributed to his rise as a great American author. One of the many themes, in the novel is if you follow what you feel is wrong, then you may not be able to rise to the top.

In "Black Boy,' Richard Wright did just the opposite. Instead of submitting, like everyone else, to the low life, Jim Crow laws were intended for, he has risen above those who already has submitted. Another universal theme is that if you believe that you can achieve in anything, most likely you will achieve in many things in life. In the novel at first, Richard did not believe he can do anything to improve his life. Once he started to believe he can do things on his own, he moved out of the South to become that great American author. These are the themes in the novel Black Boy, that can be used for everyday life, universally.

When a person thinks about hunger, food comes to mind. We never think of hunger as anything else. In Richard Wright's book titled "Black Boy (American Hunger) ', a young boy faces many different types of hunger. He refers to the phrase "American Hunger' throughout his book. I feel that the "American Hunger' which he is referring to is the hunger to be considered an American and be treated as an equal. Throughout his life he was treated as if he were from another planet.

He was always considered to be different, an outcast and a loser. He felt the need to be a part of the so-called American Culture. He wanted to be able to do what the white children did. He wanted to be able to go to school, to learn, to read, have friends, have a job; but because he was an African American he could not.

This is what I will be discussing in this paper his intellectual hunger to overcome this central paradox of Negro life. Richard was so eager to learn that he kept constantly asking questions, and if his questions were left unanswered he would let his imagination take over... He would try to find work in which he would be able to read some of the books. His family and relatives refused to let him learn. There is one incident in which his schoolteacher read to him. His grandmother got angry and said that reading was devils work.

Throughout his childhood he heard many terms and phrases. He never understood what they meant but once they were said he knew if they were good or bad. For example, when Richard was taking a bath and his grandmother came in to scrub his backside, Richard replied with, "When you get through, kiss back there. ' This is just one of the many phrases he said in which he did not know the meaning. Through his eagerness to learn he began to understand himself, other blacks, and whites better.

He continued to learn and to play dumb for his own survival, thus experiencing the paradox of double conscious. His self education began when a co-worker lent Richard his library card to read Mencken's essays. He feels that his dreams and his stories in which he reads are an escape for him. He wants to fit in with others and be able to be apart of America. He feels the need to go to school because it is his aspiration to become a writer. His reading puzzled his Aunt Maggie for she could not understand why someone would be reading just for fun because they liked it.

Intellectual hunger is not the only hunger he felt. He felt many other types of hunger throughout his life. His intellectual hunger came about when his father left his family starving which led to Richards physical hunger. He feels as though it is his job to support and help his family since his dad left. By reading and learning through co-workers he learned how to deal with others, whether they are black or white.

He learns the secret of how to survive in his society by watching how others act and react to one another. This secret is what keeps him alive, places him in society where he belongs, and lets him live out is dream of becoming a writer. We also see how each person in Richards life deals with it differently. There are a few people and insi ence that stick out in my mind especially. The first one would have to be an incident with Shorty.

Shorty has dealt with racism his whole life, and he has learned to deal with it as he has grown. We see a great example of how Shorty deals on page 269 Shorty is faced with the problem of no money, such as many other southern blacks were, and we see that he is willing to do anything for any amount of money. ' You can kick me in the ass for a quarter' (269, wright) As this happens Richard witnesses the whole thing and we can see that he is very disappointed in the way Shorty dealt with the situation. He can't understand how he can put himself in that kind of degrading position, and Shorty simply answers. ' But a quarter can't pay for what he did to you!' But we can see Shorty thinks differently. Another example of a person that dealt differently with the Racism around him was Uncle Hoskins.

He was a man just trying to make his own in this world. Minding his own business, trying to run his own business so he could support his family. We see that he owes some money to some white people, it seems to play a part at the time of his killing, but if you look deeper you see that the most significant reason for him being lynched was that he was a somewhat successful black man, and the white people didn't like that.