Black Boy chapters 12-14

Chapter 12:

1. Contrast Richard and Shorty, and how they both deal with getting money.

2. Describe what goes wrong with the fake fight between Richard and Harrison.

3. What is the root cause of Richard’s and Harrison’s hating themselves for being so easily manipulated by the whites?

Chapter 13:

4. (Richard makes references to a lot of writers and a few titles. If you are not familiar with them, google a summary. This will help you understand why he includes these in this book.) What do you suppose these writers did that may have interested Richard?

5. Is Richard’s reaction to these writers similar or different from his reaction to Ella’s stories?

6. Is Richard’s reaction to these writers similar or different from his reaction to the newspapers he sold?

7. How is Richard’s reading affecting him as a person?

8. Is the change in Richard from reading good or bad?

Chapter 14:

9. Why don’t Southern whites like blacks to move north?

10. Describe his co-workers reactions when they discover that Richard will be leaving for the North.

11. How are Falk and Richard connected?

12. What is Shorty’s reaction to Richard’s leaving?

13. How does Richard use racism and its demeaning terms to his advantage?

14. What economic function does the oppression of blacks in the South serve?