Black Boy; Post Two

One specific thing Richard hungers for throughout this novel is simply food. During the book Richard often shows he feels hungry, we know this because he bluntly tells us and his father, the primary supporter of the family, left. His family is poor and early on in Black Boy his mother becomes very ill. This leads to moving in with the grandparents, which means more people need to be fed. The outcome of Richard’s hunger brings about many effects, both positive and negative. One positive effect of Richard being hungry for food is that he is determined to obtain a job, in order to sustain his hunger. He searches for jobs that his grandmother approves of which sometimes meets his need of hunger. Richard’s hunger leads to negative effects, which produces negative attitudes. Obviously, a negative effect of Richard’s hunger for food is being hungry all the time. His family cannot provide enough food to satisfy everyone, so hunger brings tension into the household. One example is early on in the book when Richard has been ordered to go to the market for groceries, he is so determined to get what is mother asked. His hunger leads to him bashing the bully’s skull so he can get the store without being mugged. This is an extreme negative effect that goes along with feeling starving.

Throughout the first eight chapters of Black Boy we see Richards increasing hunger for knowledge. His constant need for more hunger starts on page one and grows rapidly as the story goes on. In chapter seven and eight we see that in order for Richard to continue his schooling will do go to any extent. Richard begs for a job and finally is able to get one. Richard struggles to find respect, wage, hours, boss or work. He is often in and out of jobs. We realize that most of these things are unrealistic to find in a job. Richard goes against his whole family to overachieve his goals. Richard pays for clothing and books for school. He also walks for long distances through rough conditions to get there. The positive effects are that Richard will be very well educated and he will get a decent if not good job in order to work himself. This may also help his family get out of poverty. The negative effects are Richard’s struggles with his family and money in order to get the schooling he needs. Richard describes himself as being separated from his classmates, due to his deep interest in schooling and writing. Richard works through the struggles and strives to be more than his family.