The world is a scary place sometimes

Life never is what it seems, and Wright comes to this conclusion at the end of the book. He feels like people will never unite and fight for something together, and this mostly applies to when he was thrown out of a line that he was invited to for a MayDay march. Blacks and whites both just stared, but didn't do anything to stop the violence toward Wright. The only way he can think things through and come to his own realizations of the real world is through his writing. He only wants to write to help people think for themselves, in the hopes that they will come to their own realizations. To find the answer to meaningless suffering just might lie within his audience, and maybe they might do something about it. Wright needs to write, without it, I feel like he won't be able to survive. Writing has been his way of expressing himself throughout the entire book, yet without it, he wouldn't have had the strife he ha to go through, he might not have even thought for himself. Without his writing he would have given in to the meaningless suffering. Also at the end of the book, for the first time, he didn't fight back, this just shows that he realizes that if he fights he can't win. This is why he later on goes to Europe, like many other writers, but he realizes that he can fight back by informing people through his writing.

Artists vs. Politicians

Artists and politicians almost always seem to be at different ends of the spectrum, and I agree with Wright when he says this. Artists, like Wright prefer to analyze life until they understand it, and never seem to find peace until they do, while politicians go with the old saying "Ignorance is Bliss." I personally don't think that, and neither does Wright, he questions life through his writing, and is willing to wait, while most politicians would rather not know about it. Why else would Wright's writing be so appealing to us, if he just didn't bother trying to find answers to the meaningless suffering? I know I would never read this book if Wright took on the same ways of thinking that politicians like Ed Green, don't even comprehend why writers would write about the lives of other people, and therefore they see these new ideas as a threat. We are always afraid of what is different, and this applies to politicians who don't want to hear the ideas of a free thinking artist like Wright.

The Sleeping Gypsy by Henri Rousseau

This painting that portrays a sleeping Gypsy, who is a musician, and you can tell because of the instrument lying next to her. If you have ever seen this painting before, then you will know that there is a lion also portrayed in this painting. It looks as though this is supposed to take place in the desert, so I'm guessing that this is somewhere near the Sahara or in Africa. Now, to the best of my knowledge, I see two wild creatures both in calm, serene state of being. In all books that have gypsies in them, they do not like enclosed spaces, and are usually travelers trying to make a living. In this case, our gypsy is a musician, but still a free spirit nonetheless. This painting connects to me, because once you are in a serene state of being, everything else around you is serene. A lion would not act like this if the girl was playing music and making noise, it would be afraid, and it wouldn't be very friendly in the first place. This makes me feel comforted, and serene, it also shows that miraculous things could happen. It also reaches out to the artist within all of us, and how tired most artists are, and somehow our art attracts others, if we just let go for a moment. Just like the artist sleeping and the lion not eating her. I thought that this painting could draw a number of answers, but that is why I chose this picture. Sometimes there is more than one answer.

Parenthesis

The first few passages of Section 2, held in store a different style of writing. He does this when he first receives food from Mrs. Hoffman, and he revisits how he thought that they were racist, when as an adult he realizes that they weren't racist at all. He also uses the parenthesis to emphasize his fear of not knowing what kind of racism he will come face to face with everyday, and makes the connection to Shorty. He soon comes to the realization of why people, like Shorty, give in to and reduce themselves to nothing. Now, this does not mean that he agrees with this point of view, but rather he can sympathize with them.
Wright put entire paragraphs in parenthesis, and he does this mainly to emphasize that it is another source talking. Instead of just telling the story, he actually puts himself back into these events and revisits them. This is a very good way of strengthening his connection to his audience. This also allows him to show his audience how his views are as an adult, and how they might have changed looking back on past events. I liked hearing his adult insights into his past, and like how Wright allowed us to know what he was thinking at parts like these in the book.

A change for the Better

At the end of Section 1 is a positive change. With Wright leaving because he stole, this allows him to go north. I think that even though he did steal, he felt that if he did not, then he would be stuck in the south. He doesn't want to conform to society and subservience. I think that he would rather steal than end up in the south and just deal with the issues at hand. Also, his stealing could be perceived as being a negative thing, but as long as he is sticking to his beliefs then I think it is more of a positive change than a negative change for him. There is also the idea of what we would do in the same situation, and I probably would steal to get out of the south too. Let's also not forget the remorse he felt on the trip up north. Overall stealing money to go up north is not as bad as it seems for Wright.
Another good change for Wright is when he moves up north with his mother and Aunt Maggie. At first I got the feeling like he was running away from the south. Later on, I realized that yes he was running, but he couldn't change the south, so he got out. If he would have stayed in the south, then it is possible that he could have been killed. So why not go north? I would have gone too. This was also a chance for a fresh start, and this is what he always wanted. So overall the changes at the end of Section I were positive for Wright.

Subservience is necessary

Subservience, in my mind is a natural way of life. Humans, like any other social animal need to be dominant over another person, whether they are white or black. It is because our society was built on slavery that we now have social class. We all depend on subservience, if we didn't have it, then we would not live the way we do. We experience it every day, we need it to survive. It is not always as bad as slavery though, we are all subservient to our parents, bosses, friends even, and yet we don't even think about it. I think that subservience is not only necessary, but our society would not exist if we did not have it.

learning to Live in the South

I think that what Wright's friend Griggs meant was that he couldn't really escape the South, so that he would just have to live in it. I think that since around this time Wright had so many jobs, that he just had to accept the South for what it was. The problem with his is that Wright did not want to do that at all, all he wanted to do was speak his mind. Basically Griggs was just trying to say that he should just deal with it and move on. I don't think that Griggs realizes that Wright not only cannot learn to live in the south, but will not. Wright is as Katie said, a rebel, and it is not in his character to give in and give up. Wright doesn't really understand the stereotypes to the extent that he can accept them, because of his own beliefs. He reminds me of a free spirit, not a bad one, but one who knows what he wants, and will not be broken. He will not be broken into the ways of the South.

Wright's Speech

I feel that Wright should have said his own speech, and that he had every right to. Why would you even bother letting a black man speak, if you are just going to make his speech up for him. So what if Wright said something controversial, the point is that he has every right to make his own speech, even if the audience hates it. He is at the top of his class, and deserves to say his own speech. Even though the principal was trying to look out for Wright's best interest, I still think that he should've been able to say the speech he'd written. I would want to say a speech that I wrote myself, that would be a time where I could say my how I felt and express myself. Wright didn't want to say the speech that principal had given, because it meant nothing to him. I think that Wright was justified in refusing to say the speech that the Principal gave him.

Uncle Tom

Wright is mostly angry with his uncle Tom, because his uncle was basically telling him what to do with his life. Wright doesn't want to be told that he can't wright, because he wants to figure that out on his own. I think that when somebody tells you that you can't do something, then you get defensive and mad about it. I think that Wright doesn't want to be told not to write, also because that is how he expresses himself. He doesn't write to make it a career, although he may hope for that to happen, but he just does it because he likes it. If someone told me to do something because it's never going to happen, I would be mad. I would want that to actually happen to me, and find out for myself, rather than not try. So, I think that wright is mad at his unlce for squashing his dream of writing.

Wright Writes

At the end of chapter 5, wright was supposed to be praying for forgiveness, but instead he writes. This is how he not only vents his anger, but is able to express himself. He shows his writing to the girl next door, who doesn't know writing very well and thinks it is not very good. This turns out to be a confidence booster for Wright, since he possibly feels that he is smarter than the girl, and he found a way to express himself. It is way to let out his anger, and afterward feel better about himself. He feels gratified because he lashed out against his grandmother, not in a violent way, but he was able to just get his thoughts out on paper. I sense that this could be the beginning of a trend for Wright.

PARALYSIS

In the book, Wright's mother has two strokes, that ultimately lead up to her Paralysis. Wright eventually comes to terms with this, but not very easily, since he realizes that his mother will no longer be around to help him. Now, I personally didn't think that she was that influential on her son, or the best mother, but she was still his mother. This gives him a sense of abandonment, which makes him call upon the help of his grandma, but by the second stroke, I really think that he was at the point in his life where he truly became responsible for himself. Now, the part in the book where the dad offers him a nickel, and the mom basically tells him not to take charity really comes in handy here, because he did not accept favors from his neighbors, or even food that was offered. I think that this makes him more self-sufficient, but it might be controversial in the end.

Wright's "Cultural heritage"

Wright says that it was because of his cultural heritage that he hates Jews. I think that it is because blacks couldn't fight, and expect whites not to fight back. They were throwing things at each other, and even knew when it was bad to cross a boundary that was never even set. So, I think that he took out his anger on another race that wouldn't fight back, Jews. This is because he was around these kinds of things every day, but he didn't learn these because of his own personal beliefs. Also, both racial parties were taught to not like the other group, but as kids we have no idea what is exactly right or wrong. Wright learned this, and treated Jews in the same manner as he was treated by the white people.