Richard Wright's Black Boy was written in 1943 and published two years later (1945) in the early years of his career. Wright wrote Black Boy as a response to the experiences he had growing up. Given that Black Boy is … See more

Black Boy (American Hunger) is an autobiography following Richard Wright's childhood and young adulthood. It is split into two sections, "Southern Night" (concerning his childhood in the south) and "The Horror and the … See more

The genre of Richard Wright's Black Boy is a longstanding controversy due to the ambiguity. Black Boy follows Wright's childhood with a degree of accuracy that suggests it exists as an autobiography, although Wright never confirmed nor denied whether the … See more

Given Black Boy’s emphasis on racial inequality in America, many of the motifs refer to the lingering aspects of slave narratives in present day. These motifs include violence, religion, starvation, familial unity and lack thereof, literacy, and the North Star as a … See more

Original publication
Wright wrote the entire manuscript in 1943 under the working title, Black Confession. By December, when Wright delivered the book to his agent, he had changed the title to American Hunger. The first fourteen chapters, about his … See more

Upon its release, Black Boy gained significant traction—both positive and negative—from readers and critics alike. In February 1945, Black Boy was a Book-of-the-Month-Club selection, bringing it immediate fame and acclaim. Black Boy was also featured … See more

• Black Boy at Faded Page (Canada)
• Black Boy Sparknotes
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