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.