Black Boy

Richard Wright, born in 1908, tells his life's story while living in Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and later, the more accepting city of Chicago, in this interesting and eloquently written autobiography. A self-taught reader and never formally-taught writer, Mr. Wright was an incredible writer and story-teller, lending his gifted talent to the reflective re-telling of his own memories and story. There are glimpses into the harsh, oppressive, White-dominated southern world in which Mr. Wright was born into, and equal glimpses into his genius mind and questioning psyche. From page 100: "At the age of twelve, before I had had one full year of formal schooling, I had a conception of life that no experience would ever erase, a predilection for what was real that no argument could ever gainsay, a sense of the world that was mine and mine alone, a notion as to what life meant that no education could ever alter, a conviction that the meaning of living came only when one was struggling to wring a meaning out of meaningless suffering." A sample of Mr. Wright's struggle of strong will and mighty sense of justice within an environment in which he tried desperately to be subservient is found on page 164: "Was I really as bad as my uncles and aunts and Granny repeatedly said? Why was it considered wrong to ask questions? Was I right when I resisted punishment? It was inconceivable to me that one should surrender to what seemed wrong, and most of the people I had met seemed wrong. Ought one to surrender to authority even if one believed that that authority was wrong? If the answer was yes, then I knew that I would always be wrong, because I could never do it. Then how could one live in a world in which one's mind and perceptions meant nothing and authority and tradition meant everything? There were no answers." Another insight during his younger years, while working in a diner and talking to the White waitresses while on break, is found on pages 271-272: "I often wondered what they were trying to get out of life, but I never stumbled upon a clue, and I doubt if they themselves had an notion. They lived on the surface of their days; their smiles were surface smiles, and their tears were surface tears. Negroes lived a truer and deeper life than they, but I wished that Negroes, too, could live as thoughtlessly, serenely as they. The girls never talked of their feelings; none of them possessed the insight or the emotional equipment to understand themselves or others. How far apart in culture we stood! All my life I had done nothing but feel and cultivate my feelings; all their lives they had done nothing but strive for petty goals, the trivial material prizes of American life. We shared a common tongue, but my language was a different language from theirs." The ending paragraphs of "Black Boy" poetically describe Mr. Wright's desire to write: "I picked up a pencil and held it over a sheet of white paper, but my feelings stood in the way of my words. Well, I would wait, day and night, until I knew what to say. Humbly now, with no vaulting dream of achieving a vast unity, I wanted to try to build a bridge of words between me and that world outside, that world which was so distant and elusive that it seemed unreal. "I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell, to march, to fight, to create a sense of the hunger for life that gnaws in us all, to keep alive in our hearts a sense of the inexpressibly human." A powerful book and story of a brilliant man, this recommended one for all readers includes many lessons and triumphs over the overwhelming obstacles set before him as he retained his underlying strength, courage and undeniable individualism.

Good book

classic—but not for everyone

I've known of Richard Wright for a long time. I partially read "Native Son" sometime in my teens but I never read any of his other works. I was brought to this book via another book: "Kafir Boy in America" by Mark Mathabane. In that book he describes how Richard Wright's "Black Boy" had a profound affect upon him; hence I decided to read "Black Boy". "Black Boy" is an autobiography and I think that that is why I found it so powerful. Just to read, first person, how it was to grow up as a Black male in the South during the 10's and 20's is riveting. I know, academically and cognitively that slavery existed as did the Jim Crow era--but to read first hand accounts of the physical, mental, economical, social and psychological torment that many Blacks faced--that's another thing entirely. Richard Wright writes openly about his family life and his extra-family life in Mississippi. He faced daily abuses from both, his near-fanatically religious family as well as the Whites he had to work for. But more than the physical and verbal abuses that Richard detailed, I found myself as much bothered by the transformation he had to make whenever confronting White people. He was not allowed to be a man and therefore act like one, he was always expected to be a boy. Even the job titles were "cleaning boy", "elevator boy", or just simply "boy for..." when they were hiring adults with families. Like a method actor, he would have to transmogrify into a slumped shouldered, downcast, foot-shuffling, speech deficient "boy". He could not stand up straight like a man, or look another in the eyes, or speak like a man, or even display any emotions beyond stupid gaiety, fear, or humility. I found out quickly that Richard was not constructed for that place or that era--that's why he journeyed North. Whereas other Black folks were able to seamlessly and automatically turn on the "Black Boy" act and compartmentalize that part of their life; Richard found himself hard pressed to do so--which was a problem because his life depended upon it. I was enthralled by the book. This particular copy has the addition of his life in Chicago which used to be printed as a separate book. Part two of this published edition deals with Richard as an adult in Chicago and being a part of the Communist Party. Although not as compelling, it was an interesting read into how the Communist Party could be so appealing to Blacks at that time. This book is a real page turner and a must read for a real historical reference to a dark era in American history.

A recommend read!!

自伝といってもよいのかと思いますが、David Copperfieldに比べると、ほとんど自伝と思います。 1908年に南部で生まれた黒人少年がどのような生活を送り、自我に目覚め、自由な北部を目指して、シカゴで共産党と出会い、如何に幻滅していったかが、分かりやすい英文で生き生きと描かれています。 懸命に生きた少年時代と異なり、後半のシカゴ時代は共産党との出会い、葛藤がテーマで、少し重たく感じましたが、共産主義者の組織の描写が、日本の戦前の非合法時代の共産主義者の組織・人間関係や、つい30年前の学生運動・内ゲバ時代の描写と微妙にダブって感じられました。 小説に出てくるアメリカの黒人関係の歴史を少し書きますと、おじいさんが参加した南北戦争が1865年に終了し、解放後の黒人に対し人種隔離政策をとった南部のJim Crow Systemは1876年から1965年ころまで続き、南部で実質的に黒人から選挙権を奪った文盲テストは1877年ころから1965年、1970年に連邦法で禁止されるまで続いていました。また、作者自身がそうであるように、多くの黒人が、投票権があり子供の教育も可能な北部中部西部へ移住したGreat Migrationでは、1910年から1940年の間に160万人が、1940年から1970年までに500万人が移住したそうです。 同様な黒人のつらく厳しい子ども時代を書いた作品としては、1969年に出版された「I Know Why Caged Bird Sings」は黒人女性の子ども時代を描いています。 また、映画「アラバマ物語」の原作で1960年に出版された「To Kill A Mockingbird」は白人少女の子ども時代の話ですが、南部の貧しく無教養な白人の生活と、さらに虐げられていた黒人の生活が描かれています。 いずれも読む価値のある小説だと思います。

Richards Wrights Autobiographie seiner Kindheit und Jugend im US-amerikanischen Süden zur Zeit der Rassentrennung zwischen den zwei Weltkriegen ist eigentlich ein Standardwerk über dem Alltag einer schwarzen Familie zu dieser Zeit. Ohne den Hang zu Kitsch und Pathos wie in "Onkel Toms Hütte" erzählt Wright in einer einfachen, auch in Englisch leicht lesbaren und doch sehr poetischen Sprache von seinen Erinnerungen an das Aufwachsen in einer rein schwarzen Gemeinde, seiner ersten Erkenntnis, dass es auch weiße Menschen gibt und dass diese aus irgendeinem für das Kind zunächst überhaupt nicht nachvollziehbaren Grund den schwarzen Menschen grundsätzlich zu dieser Zeit übergeordnet sind, seinem aus der Furcht vor dem Ku-Klux-Klan aufkeimenden Hass gegen Weiße während der Pubertät und schließlich seiner Erkenntnis als junger Erwachsener, dass nur zwei Dinge ihn aus diesen Lebensumständen befreien können: eine gute Ausbildung und ein Umzug in den Norden der USA. Wright erzählt in Episoden und man merkt, wie nah die Erinnerung bei ihm war, als er die Geschichten niederschrieb. Obwohl manches Geschehene düster ist, wobei Wrights dann oft stoischer Stil das Unfassbare fast banal klingen lässt - so war es damals eben, dem muss man nichts hinzufügen, hier muss nichts ausgeschmückt oder noch mehr dramatisiert werden - wenn er trocken und sachlich von Misshandlungen Schwarzer und Lynchmord, dem auch sein Onkel zu Opfer fällt, berichtet. Andere Stellen lassen dann aber auch Raum für humorvolle Schilderungen und zwischenmenschliche Einblicke in die eigene Familie und nachbarschaftliche Umgebung. So ist zwei der freundlichsten Menschen, denen Richard begegnet, eine weiße Frau, die ihn als Hausgehilfe beschäftigt, damit er zur Schule gehen kann, und ein weißer Fabrikarbeiter, der ihm seine Büchereikarte gibt (Schwarze durften keine Bücher ausleihen), weil der Mann selbst auf der Arbeit schikaniert wird (er ist Jude) und Richards Situation nachempfinden kann. Wrights Werk wäre eigentlich geschaffen, ein Standardunterrichtswerk zu sein, doch da der Autor später der kommunististischen Partei beitrat, wurden seine Werke in den USA wenig gewürdigt und beworben, so dass sie auch größtenteils nicht weiterverkauft und in Europa verlegt und übersetzt wurden. Sehr empfehlenswert für Lehrer der gymnasialen Oberstufe, die gute Texte für die Themen "The Afro-American Experience" und "The American South" suchen.

Pourquoi quelqu'un a décidé un jour que le noir valait moins que le blanc ? Ce livre est une révélation, j'ai compris que j'avais toujours été noire sous ma peau blanche. L'injustice est intolérable. Personne ne doit l'accepter sous aucun prétexte. Ce petit bonhomme est un dur à cuire forgé par l'école de la vie. Malgré des rencontres bien souvent malveillantes et des déboires de famille, il est fort et parviendra à se forger une personnalité que chacun d'entre-nous serait heureux d'avoir à ses côtés. Avec un sens du sacrifice, de la fidélité et de la famille. Il se donne, à force de ténacité, les moyens pour parvenir malgré l'adversité à son idéal de vivre libre. Écriture très agréable, facile à lire et captivant. A mettre entre toutes les mains pour prendre la mesure du racisme quotidien et lutter contre l'inacceptable encore et toujours. Ce texte est lumineux d'espoir.

Published in 1945, the autobiography of Richard Wright Black Boy was originally going to be told in two parts. The first part chronicled Richards upbringing in Mississippi and his eventual realisation that in order to make something of himself he needed to leave the south. The second part of the book followed Richard in Chicago as he establishes himself as a writer. Just when Black Boy was going to be published, the book was picked up by the Book of the Month club (which was the equivalent of the Oprah Winfrey book club today.) But the Book Club would only accept the first part of the book and this is how the book was originally published. Today you can buy the full version of Richards life in the south and the north but for some reason my copy only contains the first part of his life in the south. Born in 1908 I am sure you can imagine the kind of life that a black boy born in Mississippi at that time had.. The book starts in a very dramatic way when Richard accidentally burns down his family home and then we follow his childhood as he deals with his father leaving, poverty, racial hatred and his family forcing their religion on him. Wright is an incredibility talented writer and he attempts to explain how he has turned out the way he has and why he ultimately had to leave the south in order to pursue his dreams as a writer. He explains how the culture in the south at that time among black people forced him to behave in a certain way in order to avoid being noticed or lynched and how attitudes and nervousness towards white people were ingrained from a very early age (with good reason). All this meant was that he was unable to truly be himself within the communities that he lived in. "Although they lived in America where in theory there existed equality of opportunity, they knew unerringly what to aspire to and what not to aspire to. Had a black boy announced that he aspired to be a writer, he would have been unhesitatingly called crazy by his pals." This is a brutal book in places but it is also incredibility compelling, warm and funny and of course this doesn't make the south at that time look good. Even when Richard does meet a non racist white man, he is still suspicious and nervous and cannot wait to get away from the man purely because of the way that he has been conditioned. His own family constantly give him beatings in what they see as his own good and in an attempt to make him learn to adapt to a white-dominant black-subservient society. Its a beautifully written book and I think this passage perfectly demonstrates this as well as showing how Richard explains why he had to leave. "Not only had the southern whites not known me, but more important still, as I had lived in the South I had not had the chance to learn who I was. The pressure of southern living kept me from being the kind of person that I might have been. I had been what my surroundings had demanded, what my family - conforming to the dictates of the whites above them had exacted of me, and what the whites had said that I must be. Never being fully able to be myself, I had slowly learned that the south could recognize but a part of a man, could accept but a fragment of his personality, and all the rest - the best and deepest things of heart and mind - were tossed away in blind ignorance and hate".