Richard's realization

Eli Pardue
3/18/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags

At the end of part two of Black Boy, Richard realizes that the best-if not only-way for him to truly connect with people is through his writing. We can see this in Richard's relationship with the Communist party. He is, in fact, a writer for the party, publishing poems and short stories idealizing the Communist philosophies in creatively immature but straightforward ways. His entire purpose behind being a writer for the party is to connect with the masses. He does go into depth about he public response from his writings, but he realizes that he had no true connection with the communist party because they oppressed intellectuals and the expansion of the mind-even though they consistently spoke about educating the masses. He realizes that even though he had no true connection to the party, he still felt as if he could connect with individuals through his writing.

The only way that Richard can continue to educate himself and expand his own mind is through his writing. The only way that he can find the answers for unnecessary suffering and his hunger for a new, better way of life is through his writing. I think that Richard made the best choice in deciding to bring words out of his emotions and continuing to write. Even though we know he does not turn into a wildly successful author, he would not have been able to live with those questions unanswered.