Black Boy

Bruce Bryant

9/9/04

15/16

English II

"He came like a sledge sledgehammer, like a giant out of a mountain with a sledgehammer, writing with a sledgehammer..."

- John Henry Clark

This quote has a very important meaning because it defines the meaning of Richard Wright's story BlackBoy. This quote and the story both have something in common, such as the first line of the quote that talks about how some person came like a sledgehammer. This line corresponds to how Richard was growing up .He was brought up with problems in the family, witnessed racial discrimination, did not have a permanent home to live in and his father left the family when he was young. These examples of a struggle come together and represent Richard growing up with problems that made him heavy like a sledgehammer.

The second line in the quote talks about a person who came like a giant out of a mountain with a sledgehammer. This line is symbolic to the middle part of Richard's life because he was frequently a victim of racial discrimination. Richard fired from a several jobs because, white people thought he was gaining too much success and they did not like to see a black person working on the same level as them. This example connects to Richard being the giant who goes through many obstacles. Racial discrimination represents the mountains, and there are problems on his back that are heavy as a sledgehammer.

The last line in the quote is saying that the person is writing with a sledgehammer and this fits right in to Richard's success in writing. The sledgehammer is like the pen or pencil, which Richard uses to express his feelings and struggles in his first book and autobiography BlackBoy.