Throughout history, many talented authors writings have reflected the.
Often the overall tone, and attitude.
of the novel is due to factors, that they have been born with, such as the.
environment they grew up in, who raised them, or moral ethics were.
instilled into their way of thinking.
Richard Wright is an African-American author whose writings greatly.
reflected the time period in which he lived in. Native Son and Black Boy.
are two classic examples of Wright's works that are profoundly influenced.
by the era in which he lived.
Wright was born on September 4, 1908, in Natchez, Mississippi on a.
small farm much in the same manner that his hero, Bigger Thomas, began his.
life. Deprived, poor, and segregated against, Wright spent much of his.
early childhood in pain, fear, and shame. He was repeatedly beaten by his.
mother and grandmother for trying to fight back at the segregation imposed.
upon him. He was also beaten by whites to whom he had to turn for jobs and.
he was resentful of the Jim Crow rules by which he had to live. In Black.
Boy, Wright's autobiography, he recalls a familiar childhood event: "I.
would feel hunger nudging my ribs, twisting my empty guts until they ached.
I would grow dizzy and my vision would dim.".
In Black Boy, Wright used his own life to exemplify what qualities of.
imagination and intellect are necessary of a southern African-American in.
order to understand the meaning of his life in the United States. Black.
Boy also reveals it's 'author hero' as a man controlled by an absolute.
certainty of his own virtues.
The ethics of living Jim Crow require that Wright be obedient and.
silent. So although he was not a slave, he in essence was. He shared the.
same emotions as the slaves and emphasized for them. Yet everything we.
know about his character has prepared us to expect rebellion.
Wright could not, from his earliest years, tolerate this repression,.
and Black Boy is the chronicle of his segregation, not only from the white.
