Artists v. Politicians

I completely agree with Wright’s thought that Artists are the opposites or Politicians. Their purposes in the world are completely separate from each other.
Artists strive to bring out the inner soul of the world around them. They see suffering, happiness, and human emotion and they work to bring that out, whatever medium the choose to use.
Politicians on the other had want to harness the parts of humanity that they can use. They strive to bring out the complacent sheep inside everyone, and try to hide their dark motives for doing so.
Politicians may pretend to enjoy the finer parts of life, might even socialize with artists, they are out for something else. As long as an artist serves the politician’s purpose they’re best buds. If they need good propaganda, the right kind of artist can do wonders. However, as soon as the artists’ work don’t fit their agenda, they part company as fast a possible. In Black Boy, the Communists are more than willing to work with Wright and the other writers until their “mission” changes. They now want new creative talent around them who will mold more easily to their goals. Wright and those around him are dropped and forgotten. The same can be said of any person once a politician removes everything from a person that that individual can

Can one voice do anything?

I don’t think that one voice can move a whole crowd to action. Rather, it takes the efforts of tens, if not hundreds of people. At first, while unlikely that it’s only a single person, one person might see an action that stands against their moral code. Usually this is a trait in society that everyone is aware of, but no one actively acknowledges because it is taboo in a society.
If the paper is especially well written or enlightening, a small core of people will be willing to do something to fix that problem will read it. While the majority might look right past without truly understanding the problem, this small group will take action how they seem fit. This small group will recruit, sometimes secretly more and more people until the group has grown to a size large enough to reach out to the general population and affect their way of thinking.
The hard part of this process is keeping the message from becoming diluted. When only one person starts a crusade, there is a large chance that his or her method will slowly fade away. This can be seen in the efforts of the Communists in Black Boy. Marx had an amazing idea, but the group that is trying to bring his ideals to fruition lose sight of what is truly important.

use of parenthesis

On page 265 Wright uses parenthesis to show that he is talking out of context about his feelings of uncertainty about his place in life. By doing this he separates himself from the story, and it shows that he is talking about this after thinking back over years of life. He isn’t speaking as the worried, harried boy, but as a man with many more years of experience under his belt.
Also, the style of writing changes and he uses more metaphors and seems to think more deeply about what he’s talking about. You can tell he is talking from a more mature point of view in these paragraphs. Also, I thought I was interesting that in all of the passages he starts with a (but doesn’t have a) at the end of his aside. Instead, he just moves on to the next paragraph.

Wright at the end of part one

At the end of the book Wright begins to read and starts to see that greater world of thought that has been around him his entire life but hasn’t even begun to comprehend. He reads to learn more about what’s around him. Wright says that as soon as he feels that he understands an author’s point of view he moves on to the next because its not so much the stories but the point of view that he’s reading for.
I think that this is a positive change because it convinces him once and for that he’ll never make it anywhere in the south, and decides to go north. Plus, he has actively made a decision to change his life without stealing for it. He might have to resort to sneaky means to gain access to his books, but in the end they have given him a boost in life that he hasn’t ever attainted himself before without stealing.

Wright’s moral dilemma about stealing

Wright Has a moral dilemma about stealing because if he steals he fits in the standard mold of southern Blacks, but if he doesn’t steal it will take him a long time to acquire the money necessary to leave the south.
Wright values his individuality and his sense of self. He sees himself as a person trapped between a rock and a hard place. He wants to avoid the stereotype of his race, but in southern society there is little way for him to do so while amassing the required resources to leave the south.
In his place I think I would end up stealing as well because it’s the only opportunity available to people in his class. It doesn’t make stealing right, but in a community where the Whites hold down the blacks so tightly, there is little else he can do. It was a hard decision that plagued him to tears, but it was the only way to make it out of the south alive so I think that Wright was justified in his actions.

What does Griggs mean by ‘learn how to live in the south’?

When Griggs tells Wright to learn how to live in the south he means that Wright must learn how to fit in a White controlled society. Wright always says and acts how he feels, and in a society where that see blacks as simple sheep, that can be very dangerous. Griggs is saying that in order to live, Wright must learn how to walk small. He acknowledges that Wright is smart, but tells him that when whites are around he must act like a typical black person to avoid dangerous attention.
Having to cover who you are is never a good thing, but Griggs is giving Wright some of the most important advice that a Black person can get in the south. Learn to live the Whites’ way or suffer the consequences.

Was Wright justified to say his own speech?

I think that Wright is justified to make his speech, but in the greater sense of the world, it probably wasn’t a smart thing to do. Wright is a man of strong opinions and morals. He deeply believes in himself as an individual. The principle is telling him that when whites are around its not a good idea for him to be himself. Instead, he asks Wright to drop his own opinions in favor of a washed out prewritten speech.
Wright can stand the fact that this “bought man” is trying to force him to drop how he feels about the world, and knowing what we do about Wright, he will never be willing to do that. To do so would compromise Wright’s sense of self, and that shouldn’t be forced on anyone. I would definitely say that Wright was justified to not say the speech, and I can say that I would do the same to protect something that I truly believe in.

Why is Wright so angry at Uncle Tom

Wright is angry with his Uncle Tom because even though that Tom should have no authority over him, he tries to beat Wright after Wright gives him “sass.” All Wright does is respond to a criticism of his watch wit ha response that he would give anyone. Uncle Tom took this the wrong way and tried to beat Wright. It was only Wright threatening to stab him with Razorblades that stopped Tom.
Wright was angry at Tom’s response to his actions, but I think he reacted so angrily for a larger reason. Day in and Day out people tell him where to go, how to act, what to do. His granny is trying to force him to be religious. He teachers want him to be a sheep, and the Whites just want him to shut up and act like a regular black. He has been struggling with these influences, and when another influence suddenly arrives in his life and tries to take control of even more of his life, its no surprise that Wright was so angry with him.