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Black Boy Characteristics

Decent Essays

Human beings all across the globe display certain personality traits that could be viewed negatively or positively, depending on one’s perspective. In this modern world, society has the tendency to label manners in order to distinguish whether they are meeting up with the current expectations as to what is exceptional and unacceptable. However, even in the most severe cases, traces of virtue could be found within evil, when used appropriately. In the autobiography Black Boy by Richard Wright, the main character named Richard demonstrates that he is intelligent and independent. Although some might judge his fearless nature negatively, he confirms a brave personality when faced with conflict. Throughout his childhood, Richard faces many tasks in which he responds back with intelligence. For example, when Richard is introduced to the world of math, he puts in a lot of effort to memorizing the work, in one encounter which he is to memorize digits he says “In about an hour’s time I had learned to count to a hundred and I was overjoyed” (Wright 23). This determines intelligence, because he is capable of absorbing knowledge …show more content…

For example, when faced with religion, he states “[I] need proof before I could believe that I could not commit myself to do something” (Wright 116). His refusal to believe in anything that has followed him since birth is a great indicator that he is independent towards his life decisions. He is in full control over his thinking, and does not depend on another’s authority, showing he is self-governing. Another example which proves he is an independent person would be when he says, “In the past I had taken punishment that was not mine to protect the solidarity of gang” (Wright 108). This shows Richard is self determined to protect his friends, and he is very much able to stand on his own two feet with great strength of

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