Knowledge is Power The book entitled Black Boy is an autobiographical literary work written by Richard Wright. The book expounds on Wright’s turbulent childhood through his knowledge seeking adulthood. In the book, he chronicles his burdensome life in the Jim Crow South. He went above and beyond his limits to obtain books and writings to read. He longed for knowledge in its greatest form of desperation. Richard detailed about how hard times got for him and how he often lost his desire to write. He expressed events in his life that shaped him to be the well-known Richard Wright. As a young boy, Richard forged a note to the local librarian so that he could check out books. Blacks were prohibited from reading as well as acquiring books from the library, unless they were running errands for their superior. The book states, “That afternoon I addressed myself to forging a note… I finally wrote what I thought would be a foolproof note: Dear Madam: Will you please let this nigger boy¬¬—I used the word “nigger” to make the librarian feel that I could not possibly be the author of the note” (Wright, p. 142). Wright used diction to imply that he was not the writer of the note. He used the word …show more content…
Although it was used numerous times, the meanings were dissimilar. The word hunger has different connotations. Wright states “But a vague hunger would come over me for books…” (145). In this statement, he uses hunger to describe his constant desire and eagerness to keep reading new books and discover their underlying treasures. He speaks of a psychological hunger. Further on in the reading, Wright says “The hunger I thought I had left behind returned” (148). In this statement, he describes how hard it was for him to eat from day to day when the stock market crashed. He was out of work and had no means of providing for himself. Times were hard again for him as they were when he was younger. He speaks of a physical