Question

Read the excerpt from Black Boy.

Then my father was called; he came forward jauntily, smiling. He tried to kiss my mother, but she turned away from him. I only heard one sentence of what he said.

“I’m doing all I can, Your Honor,” he mumbled, grinning.

It had been painful to sit and watch my mother crying and my father laughing and I was glad when we were outside in the sunny streets. Back at home my mother wept again and talked complainingly about the unfairness of the judge who had accepted my father’s word.

What societal norm of the early twentieth century does this excerpt reflect?
Women cherished their domestic roles within the home.
Men were considered more able and trustworthy than women.
Judges spent a great deal of time reviewing court cases.
Courts were impartial mediators in marital disputes.

Answer 1

Men were considered more able and trustworthy than women

Answer 2

• Men were considered more able and trustworthy than women.

Step-by-step explanation:

Taken from the memoir "Black Boy" by Richard Wright (1945), Wright utilizes this individual experience to build up an examination between the reliability of ladies and men. Amid that period, men were viewed as more reliable than ladies. In this extract, Wright's mom was called by the judge and she disclosed her circumstance to him (that her significant other had left her and her two kids, that her kids were eager, that they remained hungry, that she worked, that she was endeavoring to raise only them). At that point, a similar judge called Wright's dad to check that circumstance and the judge trusted him rather than Wright's mom when he stated, "I'm doing everything I can, Your Honor,".

In the accompanying lines, Wright portrays that Ella, Wright's mom, gets miserable due to the judge's decision: "Back at home my mom sobbed again and spoke complainingly about the shamefulness of the judge who had acknowledged my dad's assertion.". This clarifies the correlation between the dependability of ladies and men in the portrayal of this individual experience of Richard Wright.