Question

Read the excerpt from Richard Wright’s Black Boy.

Hunger stole upon me so slowly that at first I was not aware of what hunger really meant. Hunger had always been more or less at my elbow when I played, but now I began to wake up at night to find hunger standing at my bedside, staring at me gauntly. The hunger I had known before this had been no grim, hostile stranger; it had been a normal hunger that had made me beg constantly for bread, and when I ate a crust or two I was satisfied. But this new hunger baffled me, scared me, and made me angry and insistent. Whenever I begged for food now my mother would pour me a cup of tea which would still the clamor in my stomach for a moment or two; but a little later I would feel hunger nudging my ribs, twisting my empty guts till they ached. I would grow dizzy and my vision would dim. I became less active in my play, and for the first time in my life I had to pause and think of what was happening to me.


Which best describes why Wright includes this anecdote?

to show how poverty shaped his behavior when he was younger

to vividly depict the hardships caused by oppression and segregation

to realistically portray the struggles he endured as a child

to provide an accurate account of the injustices he experienced as a youth

Answer 1

Richard Wright includes the anecdote of his childhood hunger in 'Black Boy' to vividly depict the hardships of poverty and oppression, symbolizing the broader struggles of African Americans.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the excerpt from Richard Wright’s Black Boy, Wright includes the anecdote of his hunger experience to vividly depict the hardships caused by poverty and racial inequality during his youth. This intense portrayal of hunger serves not just as a literal account of his physical suffering, but also as a metaphor for his and his community's longing for equality, dignity, and opportunity in a segregated society. The detailed description of Wright’s struggle with hunger compels the reader to understand the deep impacts that poverty and oppression had on him as a child and symbolizes the larger societal issues faced by African Americans during that era.