Summary and response for “The Library Card”
In the story “The Library Card” by Richard Wright, who is a black writer in America, the author explains his story that he figures out a way to get books from the library and teach himself how to read, which show how reading can influence and affect its readers. One morning, when the black boy was reading a newspaper on which he saw a white man called H.L. Mencken being abused and called a fool by another white man. He got surprise since he used to think that only black people (Negroes) were hated, but not white man. Therefore, he became curious to know more about Mencken and eager to read his books. Unfortunately, black people were not allowed to go to libraries at that time. However, Wright got …show more content…
As a result, he understood the reason why Mencken was hated. Furthermore, he kept reading books, and he started talking about equality between whites and blacks. He started understanding his boss and realizing the important things in life. Wright continues to say that reading became a drug to him and he wanted to be a writer. Therefore, he bought an English grammars book for studying English, but he found the English better from novel, and he realized the suffering of blacks while living with white people because of the law. Wright goes on to say that he did not like to live the life of a slave because of his education. He knew that he was in the minority, so he could not fight against the whites. With that thought, his knowledge and education confused and mad him so that he could not forget the pathetic situation of the blacks. Finally, Wright concludes the story by saying that he became …show more content…
By that way, Wright showed us some problems that he had to face with at that time such as the racism, the hunger of reading, and the conflict when he got knowledges from the books. At first, being curious about Mencken, Wright had to forge a note to the librarian saying that the white man wanted to take out books by Mencken. He wrote: “Dear Madam: Will you please let this nigger boy have some books by H. L. Mencken?” (p. 27) He used the word “nigger boy” to make the librarian feel that he could not possibly be the one who wrote the note. The word “nigger” was frequently used in the past, and it is still used today. A nigger is a black person, but it is used to insult them. Moreover, the librarian asked many questions to Wright to make sure that he was not the one using the books: “You’re not using these books, are you?” she asked pointedly (p. 27). There is a strict rule in lending books to black people. The whites do not want to expand black people’s knowledge since they just want blacks to be slaves. Therefore, black people could hardly read or write, and they were not offered the education to learn. Furthermore, once Wright took out the books, he headed back to Mr. Falk and told him that the librarian might telephone him. It is to make sure that the books were for Mr. Falk, not for the black boy. There would be a big trouble if Wright gets caught taking out the books and reading them for himself. So,
In the story “The Library Card” by Richard Wright, who is a black writer in America, the author explains his story that he figures out a way to get books from the library and teach himself how to read, which show how reading can influence and affect its readers. One morning, when the black boy was reading a newspaper on which he saw a white man called H.L. Mencken being abused and called a fool by another white man. He got surprise since he used to think that only black people (Negroes) were hated, but not white man. Therefore, he became curious to know more about Mencken and eager to read his books. Unfortunately, black people were not allowed to go to libraries at that time. However, Wright got …show more content…
As a result, he understood the reason why Mencken was hated. Furthermore, he kept reading books, and he started talking about equality between whites and blacks. He started understanding his boss and realizing the important things in life. Wright continues to say that reading became a drug to him and he wanted to be a writer. Therefore, he bought an English grammars book for studying English, but he found the English better from novel, and he realized the suffering of blacks while living with white people because of the law. Wright goes on to say that he did not like to live the life of a slave because of his education. He knew that he was in the minority, so he could not fight against the whites. With that thought, his knowledge and education confused and mad him so that he could not forget the pathetic situation of the blacks. Finally, Wright concludes the story by saying that he became …show more content…
By that way, Wright showed us some problems that he had to face with at that time such as the racism, the hunger of reading, and the conflict when he got knowledges from the books. At first, being curious about Mencken, Wright had to forge a note to the librarian saying that the white man wanted to take out books by Mencken. He wrote: “Dear Madam: Will you please let this nigger boy have some books by H. L. Mencken?” (p. 27) He used the word “nigger boy” to make the librarian feel that he could not possibly be the one who wrote the note. The word “nigger” was frequently used in the past, and it is still used today. A nigger is a black person, but it is used to insult them. Moreover, the librarian asked many questions to Wright to make sure that he was not the one using the books: “You’re not using these books, are you?” she asked pointedly (p. 27). There is a strict rule in lending books to black people. The whites do not want to expand black people’s knowledge since they just want blacks to be slaves. Therefore, black people could hardly read or write, and they were not offered the education to learn. Furthermore, once Wright took out the books, he headed back to Mr. Falk and told him that the librarian might telephone him. It is to make sure that the books were for Mr. Falk, not for the black boy. There would be a big trouble if Wright gets caught taking out the books and reading them for himself. So,