In Black Boy, Richard Wright utilizes casual relationship to show the effects of a damaged childhood on a person's journey to adulthood. Wright's childhood was filled nothing but poverty, abuse, and neglect from his family. Being that Wright was forced to raise himself at such a young age with lack of support, he faced a lot of battles and went through many obstacles on his way to adulthood. He developed violent behaviors, the love to lie, and the desire to steal to get what he wanted. These foul tendencies were instilled in him throughout his anything but innocent childhood. A child should be eating ice cream for breakfast not having a care in the word about anything. However he ate "occasional scraps of bread and meat" and "the problem of food became an acute daily agony" he was constantly worried about when his next meal would be. That daily worried damaged his innocence, forcing him to grow up faster than a child should have to. As a child he was giving the responsibility to determine where and how he would eat. Wright states "often when we were hungry my mother would beg me to go to my father's job and ask him for a dollar, dime, a nickel". He would be exploited by his own mother, and the effect if he didn't do as she said would be they wouldn't have a meal for dinner. This impacted his mentality causing him to think that food would not always be available so even in his adulthood when plenty of food was available he was restrictive because of the fear of being hungry that was brought upon by his childhood. Black Boy definitely touches on racial issues in the Jim Crow South and how he had to survive it, but his childhood created an even more harsh world for him.
“War Zone.” Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?biw=1280&bih=605&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=YnqyW4yLHsXW5gLTirywBg&q=black%2Bkids%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bghetto%2Bviolence&oq=black%2Bkids%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bghetto%2Bviolence&gs_l=img.3...25411.80831..81071...0.0..3.274.6962.13j17j14......4....1..gws-wiz-img.....0..0j0i24j0i67j0i5i30j0i8i30.N8WFS9-x8Xw#imgrc=xoqzmNLP1FJyjM:
“Culture of Poverty?” Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?q=poverty%2Bchain&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjehsDegebdAhVKq1kKHYEXAb4Q_AUIDigB&biw=1280&bih=605#imgrc=hmCXQZD735NfSM:
“We're Failing Our Children BEFORE They Meet Their First Police Officer.” ThisIsYourConscience.com, 8 Jan. 2014, www.thisisyourconscience.com/2014/01/were-failing-our-children-before-they-meet-their-first-police-officer/.