Richard Wright's A Visit To The Library

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Richard Wright in the story, “A visit to the Library”, explores that Richard has come to terms with reality, the ignorance, and realization of the environment surrounding him. Over and over he’s instructed on what is an acceptable thought process. Mr. Falk suggests to the boy “But you ought to read the right things.” (Pg 142), his mental reply “Would he want to supervise my reading?” (Pg 142), the curiosity of the boy eventually concludes with exposure on the situation of colored people in the south. With heightened awareness of his position within southern society, he concludes in order to leave behind the illusion that a new life must be started, not bound by condition mental or physical shackles. This reading is really aimed at skeptics,…show more content…
Sure, it’s never kind to tell a child the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are fiction, but aiding phony beliefs to adolescence is much crueler. Does anyone really want to live as a slave? Or even a mental slave? Molded to be ignorant of how you are treated as a human being? Certainly those fleeing from Communism in the Eastern Bloc and former USSR did not. The young gentlemen falls into a pit of hopelessness upon his awareness “I could submit and live the life of a genial slave, but that was impossible.”(Pg 148), certainly the wake up call for him is harsher than learning that Santa Claus is a figment of imagination. But upon learning his faith in my opinion I would have come to terms with my demons and eventually build a more prosperous future for myself. Richard maps to himself on his possible choices “I could calculate my chances for life in the south as a Negro fairly clearly now.” (Pg 148), but many of those choices are irrational and would certainly do more harm than good, the best option mentioned prior “I was thinking of the North they would change toward me” (Pg 148). It’s unknown what decision our main character has chosen, however I throw support to my claims, Wright is better off aware of his surrounding environment, now he can make the decisions to truly alter his life whatever decisions that are

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