Reflections on Black Boy.

I was really excited to read this book again, I read it in eighth grade but I definitely don't remember all of it. Richard Wright writes with a nice, flowing poetic style and is not boring whatsoever, at least, not at where we are right now in the book. And his story really is interesting. Some of the more interesting parts for me are Wright's opinions on religion and God, and how his opinions deeply affect the lives of him and those around him. He doesn't really believe in either (which explains why he makes some important decisions, later on in the book), but here he is thrust into this world of going to religious school, and a granny that is determined that everything except the Bible is the work of the devil. Pretty intense stuff. So we have Richard, who loves reading which will later lead to his writing, but his granny forbids him to. This is why he sells the newspaper- to read the stories. Unknowingly, the newspapers are pro- Ku Klux Klan, but he is too wrapped in the stories to pay attention to the actual news. This is one example of how his rebellion leads to greater consequences than he could imagine. Another situation is Aunt Addie. I really really don't like her. She's totally unfair to Richard and completely flips out whenever he does a little something wrong. And then she goes crazy and tells him she's going to kill him while he sleeps. So frankly, I can't blame him for taking out a knife in defense. I would be really scared too. The conflict first started when Richard stuck up for the religious boy about the walnuts, because he had been raised by his group of friends to cover for other people. Then Aunt Addie starting beating Richard, but he stuck up for himself, and then the conflict greatly escalated. Maybe this is something the author Wright thought about while writing the book, maybe it's a little creative license or maybe his family was just quick to jump to conclusions. Well, it's a good book so far, and I wonder what will become of Richard's adult years.

Hungry for Attention

Every little kid craves attention. You did, I did- we all did. Little kids don't yet have the experience one attains as they mature- that everything is not about you all the time. I mean, as we get older, some people still act like that, and let's face it, it's nice to be the center of attention. But to little kids who just want instant gratification, it's natural and they think nothing of it. We've all had to pretend to our younger siblings that the story they're telling you for the fifth time is so interesting and so funny and great! We have not let them know that what they're saying isn't exactly what they think it is. As they grow up, they will mature and hopefully, drop this cute but somewhat annoying habit.

Richard's parents never gave him this fake interest. Even though it may be fake, the kid doesn't know that, and it's not too much to ask to pretend to be interested. But Richard's dad was tired and frustrated with him most of the time, and his mom was too worn out by dealing with him and his brother and everything else that needed to be taken care of around the house. I can definitely understand why it would be hard to give Richard some attention. But a brief minute here and there couldn't have been too hard, right? At least, I don't think so. I feel bad for Richard because he never had that feeling that his parents were genuinely listening to him, and so maybe that's what affected his personality in certain ways later in life. We haven't gotten that far in the book yet though. And that's why he went to the saloon- because even though those grownups were drunk and amused by him, they were paying long-denied attention to him, which was more than his parents had done.