Characters and Themes in Richard Wrights Black Boy Essays -- Wright B

Characters and Themes in Black Boy   The novel, Black Boy is Richard Wrights autobiographical account of his life beginning with his earliest memories and coating with his departure for the North at age nineteen. In Black Boy, Wright tells of an unsettled family life that takes him from Natchez, Mississippi, to Memphis, Tennessee, back to Jackson, Mississippi, then to Arkansas, back again to Mississippi, and finally to Memphis once more, where he prepares for his eventual migration to Chicago.             nearly critics agree that Black Boy is a highly selective account, more selective than the term record in its subtitle suggests. At the time Wright wrote Black Boy, he was already an accomplished author of fiction. He had published a collection of short stories called Uncle Toms Children and the highly successful novel inseparable Son.   Wright chose carefully the experiences he includ es in Black Boy, the ones he highlights, and the tone in which he writes about them. Many readers even think that he invents some of the incidents. Most  agree, however, that Wright crafts his autobiography for the precise impact he wants.             Of course, the central character of Black Boy is young Richard Wright. To distinguish between this young character and the author  looking at back on him many years later and even occasionally inventing  incidents about him, this guide follows the standard practice of  referring to the former as Richard and the latter as Wright.   Wright presents Richard&... ...ight had originally wanted the book to describe his life in               Chicago as well, but his publisher decided only to accept the Southern      portion. As a result, the book becomes in part an i ndictment of the         South and of its oppressiveness toward blacks.