Hunger In Richard Wright's Black Boy

Throughout the novel Black Boy, Richard Wright describes his childhood as well as the struggles he went through. His hunger is commonly mentioned, as it is a daily part of Wright’s life as he was growing up. Because of his socio economic situation, Wright and his family was often discriminated against, and they weren’t given as many opportunities for careers and education as people were. As a result, Wright was constantly hungry as he was growing up. In Grandma’s house, Wright was often forced to eat mash and gravy, along with inedible meat, which often gave WRight indigestion (Wright 103). From this, we can see that Wright grew up with a childhood full of hunger. Additionally, the lack of food often made Wright extremely irritable and angry. This is seen …show more content…
Hunger has played a huge role in Wright’s life, as seen by how it has negatively impacted Wright’s temper and mindset. Because of the lack of proper food, Wright was influenced to act in ways he wouldn’t have if he wasn’t so desperate for food.

In additional to his hunger for physical food, Wright also hungered for knowledge and literature. This is first exemplified when he begged Ella, who was schoolteacher, to read Bluebeard and His Seven Wives to him. Throughout his entire life, Wright always wanted to learn more, and he had a very keen interest in literature. In fact, Wright even states, “Not to know the end of the tale filled me with a sense of emptiness, loss. I hungered for the sharp, frightening, breathtaking, almost painful excitement that the story had given me, and I vowed that as soon as I was old enough I would buy all the novels there were and read them to feed that thirst”(Wright 40). From this, we can see how Wright has always had a hunger for knowledge, even when he was very young. However, throughout