Notes on Wright's "Black Boy"

Black Boy, an autobiography of the author's boyhood, explores the theory of human behavior determined by environment.

Richard Wright's novel is profoundly American by being a distinctly African-American chronicle.

What makes the book unique is its tone, which is that of the blues, both lyrical and ironic, and yet purely tragic.

Please note that this CliffsNote does not cover Wright's American Hunger, the 1977 sequel to Black Boy.