- Male Influences
The men that were expressed in "Black Boy" that influenced Richard Wright were all different men that touched Richard whether negatively or positively. Each man are different and influence Richard in all different ways. - Richard's Father: Richard's father left Richard when he was a little boy, when Richard expresses his feelings about his father it's not always negative but more like an absence in his heart that he feels. Richard was afraid of his father growing up, so he didn't always want to be around him. Even though he didn't want to be around him he knew his father was the one to bring food to the house without Richard's father supporting his family, the family stay would hungry. "As the days slid past the image of my father became associated with my pangs of hunger, and whenever I felt hunger I thought of him with a deep biological bitterness" (Wright 16). Richard's want for food and satisfaction was because of his dad. Richard's dad influenced Richard to work hard in order for him not to stay hungry.
- Richard's Grandfather: Richard's Grandfather influenced Richard in a more distant type of way rather than completely negatively way. Richard was also scared of his Grandfather but it was a different kind of scare, Richard felt like his dad was a stranger living with him while Richard's grandfather was completely different. Richard knew that his Grandfather had been through so much and that's why he was scared of him yet there was some kind of respect that Richard had for his Grandfather. "Granny was sending my brother to fetch Grandpa, of whom I was mortally afraid. He was a tall, skinny, silent, grim, black man who had fought in the Civil War with the Union Army " (Wright 43). Richard Grandfather influenced Richard by showing him what a real man that has been through so much really looks like. His Grandfather examples how a veteran looks like and thinks like and that showed Richard that all people are very different in their own ways.
- Uncle Tom: Uncle Tom was a major influence for Richard Wright, he showed him that words matter and must not be said to people , for example, when he told Uncle Tom about the time, he did not like Richard's wording and was going to whip him for what he had chose to say . Uncle Tom also showed Richard self- defense for things he did not do, as he said, " No, that could not be, he would not beat me "( Wright 158). This shows that Richard had a sense of self defense and protect himself from wrong.
- The Man that made Richard realize what he did in his job: Another influence was the man spoke to Richard of his selling he showed Richard that he was selling horrible articles. At the end he understood that some jobs are not good and are to spread racism. " I did not try to sell anymore of the papers... I walked home with them... feeling some negro would... way lay me" (Wright 132). This shows that Richard stop selling the articles that were spreading racism and it also shows how he was able to defend himself and his race at the same time.
- Mr.Olin: Mr. Olin was Richard Wright"s previous boss. Mr. Olin influenced Richard by making Richard realize that you can't trust people to have good intentions for you. Richard liked Mr.Olin for a white man, and thought Mr. Olin would never mess with him, and mistreat him. " He was an important man in the factory and I had always respected his word" ( Wright 236). Soon Mr. Olin turned his back on Richard and tried to make Richard stab another black boy. Mr. Olin bribed the boys with money to fight ion the ring and eventually they did Richard's relationship with Mr.Olin was the same relationship as the black people and Southerns back then. Richard soon learned that that type of relationship was not a really good one if anything it was very bad. Mr. Olin made Richard realize that he no longer wanted to work for the white men.