In discussing our final reading from part one of Wright’s Black Boy we touched upon the way white people would pit black people against one another for amusement, Wright’s emotional dynamism, and his relationship with women. I was particularly interested in Richard Wright’s feeling of not being able to connect to people around him. Earlier in part one whenever he described instances of feeling like he wasn’t ever able to connect with his family, it was always to do with their lack of support and kindness toward him, he reserved a special soft spot for his mother because she was the only one who ever really had his back. Which is why it was interesting to me that when he came to stay with Mrs. Moss and Bess, and was offered so much kindness and support that he seemed even less able to connect with them. Often in the book Wright attributes his reading practice to his inability to connect with other people, but that doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense. He ascribes literature’s ability to disconnect him from the people around him to the new depths, perspectives, and ideas that he finds in his books, that he assumes are beyond the grasp of and of no interest to the people around him, but he immediately shrinks away from anyone who asks him about his reading habit, despite the fact that he can eloquently describe his feelings and ideas about literature. Possibly Wright’s inability to feel connected to other people comes from his experiences with the white power structure, he writes “the safety of my life in the south depended on how well I concealed from all whites what I felt.” (Wright, 233).
I feel like Wright has a difficult time connecting with people socially because of the animosity that comes when does speak up most of the times in his life. He has to conceal how he feels not only around white people but also black people. Which is hard to never be true to yourself, you expect him to be comfortable around black people, he feels like they wont get his perspective on things. So her turns to literature and shields himself with books and ignores the outside world.
I think that Wright’s inability to connect with others is developed from his upbringing. The connection that you make to his mother and life in the South is very relevant. When he arrived in a new home with Bess and her mother, he is not able to connect even more because of how kind they are being. This shows his character and the person he still strives to be. The relationship to female figures is critical to his development and apparent in his actions in the later half of part one.
I also think it is interesting to see this regression of Wright from all people, even those who express warm and kindness to him. The reader knows that he has all these articulate ideas about literature and his passions, and seems to yearn for anybody to talk to. When he doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity, it is confusing. I think this has to do with the presence of the narrating “I.” In the moment, I don’t think there was such a deep understanding of the workings of society or the importance of literature in Wright. As he’s writing his story though, these ideas he has learned pour out and the inkling of knowledge he had at that age turn into the articulate, analytical thoughts we see in his story. By adding this, Wright shows he is not writing just to tell about his life in the south, but to make a larger argument about southern culture and its impact on the citizens.
I think another explanation for Wright’s intense reaction to Mrs. Moss and Bess is that Wright is suspicious of “nice” people. He has only ever been used, both by his family and all the white people he has ever interacted with. Wright’s relationships to others only seem to be a positive experience when those relationships are rooted in literature. Maybe this is because Wright never gets close enough to anyone to have these conversations? Contrary to Wright’s view of the world, I think the people around him are conscious, questioning people; it’s just that Wright has never gotten close enough to those around him to have substantive conversations about white supremacy and institutionalized racism.
I also think that Wright’s relationships with those around him is an interesting thing to think about. Throughout most of Part 1, he seems quite isolated from his family members and peers. There is nobody that he seems to truly connect to and form a strong bond with, which I assume must have been a very painful part of his childhood. Humans depend on these connections with others, so I find it hard to imagine that this inability to truly connect to others did not impact him. I also found his initial response to Mrs. Moss and Bess to be really peculiar. He was immediately somewhat distrustful and suspicious of their unfiltered kindness and enthusiasm, as he was not used to people being so open, generous, and caring towards him. It is actually pretty sad that he was never able to find this type of relationship before in his lifetime–a more simple relationship in which he did not have to constantly feel guarded or on edge. I agree that his immediate reaction of distrust probably stems from growing up at a time in the South where he could not truly and freely be himself. If he wasn’t at least somewhat distrustful and suspicious of others, he could potentially face serious consequences.
I think that Wright’s relations with women stems from his family. His grandmother was overbearing, his aunt was violent, and his mother was fearful. He seemed to associate most of his bad memories with women. Also, he had few male figures in his life, which probably made him insecure in his masculinity. As such, he struggles to peacefully connect to women.