American Hunger: Richard Wright
Richard Wright’s 1945 autobiography Black Boy was originally written in two parts. The first section detailed life in the South and the second was to explore life in the North after migrating to Chicago. Author Isabel Wilkerson explains:
When Wright wrote his 1945 autobiography, the Book of the Month Club insisted that he cut the second half (about the North) and change the title from American Hunger to Black Boy. He wanted the book published so he conceded to their request. But that left the book without the ending it needed so he hastily came up with an alternative passage. Because he was forced to write quickly and succinctly, the passage summarized in a way he had not achieved in the text itself the longing and loss of anyone who has ever left the only place they ever knew for what they hoped would be a better life on alien soil.
Wilkerson used a line from that passage as the title for her monumental history of the Great Migration:
I was leaving the South To fling myself into the unknown. … I was taking a part of the South To transplant in alien soil, To see if it could grow differently, If it could drink of new and cool rains, Bend in strange winds, Respond to the warmth of other suns And, perhaps, to bloom.
Richard Wright, Black Boy (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1945)
Note: This passage appears in the footnotes (p. 496) of the 1993 HarperCollins reprint.
Reflection Questions
Understanding the Metaphor
Wright describes his migration journey using language typically used for plants—transplanting, soil, drinking rain, bending in winds, blooming.
- How are humans like plants? How are they different?
- What does it mean to “transplant” yourself in “alien soil”?
- Why might Wright have chosen to describe himself as a plant rather than, say, a traveler or explorer?
Close Reading
- What words would you use to describe the tone of this passage? What specific words or phrases create that tone?
- Wright writes “And, perhaps, to bloom.” Why “perhaps”? What does that uncertainty reveal?
- What is Wright leaving behind? What is he moving toward? What doesn’t he know?
Connecting to the Backstory
Isabel Wilkerson explains that Wright wrote this passage hastily after being forced to cut half his book.
- How might constraint or pressure sometimes produce powerful writing?
- Why do you think this rushed passage captured something Wright hadn’t achieved in the longer text?
Making Connections
- How are stories of internal migration—moving within a country—both similar to and different from stories of immigrants crossing national borders?
- Wright left Mississippi for Chicago in 1927. What “suns” was he leaving? What “warmth” was he seeking?
- Who in your family or community has ever left one place hoping to “bloom” somewhere new?
Teaching Ideas:
Wright describes himself and his migration journey with words usually used for describing plants. Consider the metaphor. How are humans like plants? To what extent is a journey of migration similar to transplanting a plant in new soil?
You might use the Same Different Gain thinking routine from Project Zero for an extended reflection of the metaphor Wright used.
What words would you use to describe the tone of the passage?
Consider how stories of internal migration, within a country, are both similar and different to stories of immigrants who have crossed national borders in their migrations.
Wilkerson explains that the original title of Black Boy was American Hunger. What does the title American Hunger suggest about his aspirations for the book. What was gained and what was lost in the choice of Black Boy as the title for publication?