Wright's Reaction to his Uncle Tom

Wright reacts extremely angrily to his Uncle Tom for a number of reasons. For one thing, he cannot even begin to fathom the reason that his Uncle Tom is so angry after he asks Wright the time. Wright cannot understand what solicits the reaction he receives from his Uncle, but he does consider his Uncle's reaction completely unjustified. He is angered by the fact that his uncle has just emerged in his life - he has lived in the house a mere two days or so, and then he has taken it upon himself to begin disciplining Wright for minor infractions. Wright accepted his mother's beatings because he by and large respected his mother and recognized that for most of his beatings, he deserved it. He was angered by his Aunt Aggie's beating feeling that his behavior did not warrant such treatment. However his aunt had lived with him for at least some amount of time before she started attacking him. His Uncle however had barely lived with him before he began punishing him for perceived wrongs. This did not sit well with Wright's sense of right and wrong.

Wright's First Written Piece

Wright feels gratification at showing the piece he wrote to a female neighbor simply because he is reveling in the thrill of having produced something. He says that he feels as though this was the first time in his life he had actually created something that was entirely his. Even though it was - in his opinion - not particularly well written, the thrill of having written it at all was enough to excite him. Wright acknowledges that his neighbor was most likely bewildered at hearing him read it - his story was lacking in all but atmosphere and tragic occurrences. This small portion of the story is an important piece of foreshadowing. We can be fairly certain that Wright will take up writing again in the future as he does write Black Boy, among many others. Wright's ability to create something all his own is an important milestone for him. He feels stifled living in his Grandmother's house, with his zealot of an Aunt. Reading and writing helps to provide Wright with an outlet with which he can healthily let out his pent up frustrations.

Wright's Mother's Paralysis

When Wright's mother suffers from a stroke, Wright's entire outlook is changed. For one thing, he begins to feel less and less like a child. He no longer wishes to play with the other children and do childlike things that he wished to do only a short time before. In many ways it makes Wright more cynical. He becomes much less likely to accept charity from others, even when he needs it. He accepts food from his neighbors only grudgingly, feeling bad imposing upon their hospitality. He describes how his mother's paralysis would color his outlook substantially later on when it came to the decisions he made, especially when it came to matters of race. How exactly this will come into play is something we have yet to discover, although I am fairly certain Wright's own judgement on the subject is accurate as the entire book is a retrospective. 

Wright's Dislike of Jews

Wright and other black children at this time disliked Jews due to the fact that they were the recipients of an extreme amount of hatred and prejudice from white people. Taunting and mocking Jews was an easy way for the children to release their frustration for the way they were treated by white people. They could not easily repay the white people in kind for their prejudice due to the fact that white's were the power group. Wright and others in his situation live in a state of perpetual fear of white people and thus they cannot treat the whites as they themselves are treated. Instead they mock Jews, whom they do not fear will lynch them. This affords Wright and the other children a feeling of power they do not usually enjoy. Several of Wright's experiences predispose him to such action. For instance, his mother remained frustratingly opaque in her descriptions about race relations, in an attempt to protect Wright from the harsh realities of race conflicts. While this is something Wright has taken for granted, he begins to question the motives of white people who perpetuate violence and he wonders about his own place in the grand scheme of things. Wright is woefully ignorant about race relations, and thus he could not be expected to understand that what he was doing was wrong.

Why is Wright Hungry?

Wright is hungry because he doesn't have any food. But aside from that, Wright is emotionally hungry for several reasons. For one thing, he lacks a father figure, and this causes him to be "hungry" as it were. He ends up seeking out the companionship of people in the saloon due to the fact that he lacks adult companionship in the form of a father figure. The people in the saloon are hardly good role models, but Wright latches on to them due to the fact that his mother is gone most of the time, and his father is notably absent from his life. In addition to this, Wright is hungry for knowledge. He is originally apprehensive about going to school, and once there he is intimidated by the knowledge possessed by his peers. In spite of this, or maybe even because of it, Wright ends up going home excited at the end of the day, relishing the prospect of gaining so much new knowledge. An example of Wright's thirst for knowledge can be found when the man comes to replenish the family's coal supplies. The man ends up teaching Wright to count, and Wright is ecstatic with his new knowledge. He revels in his knew ability to count things, and it serves to broaden Wright's outlook about the world in which he lives.

The Futility of School

Gatto argues that school is an exercise in futility due to its repetitiveness and tendency to breed complacency in students rather than free-thought. I agree with many of the points Gatto raises, however in the interest of playing devils advocate, I shall endeavor to present a varying point of view on this topic: is it necessarily a bad thing that the majority of our population is not thinking for themselves? The obvious is answer is, "yes, of course it's a bad thing" but if we are to look at this more closely, we come to the realization that things are never so black and white. The majority of people never engage in free thought, relying on institutions such as school to direct them in the right direction. This may not be the most desirable outcome, but it may be necessary. Take for example, the French Revolution. Arguably the majority of people engaged in free-thinking, and what ensued was an extremely bloody conflict. This is quite likely due to the fact that with the majority of the populace thinking and acting, no one could come to a consensus when it came to what form the country should take. Ideally, everyone would be able to think as they wished, but we have seen that the results of this can often be disastrous. I see no immediate solution to this problem, but it is obviously not as simple as "we need to teach everyone to think for themselves". Another point to mention is related to consumerism. It is important to note that consumerism is needed in order to maintain an industrial nation. Consumerism is not wholly black and white, and we must bear that for all it's evils when taken in extreme circumstances, it is still necessary.

Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education Reaction

I value my non-Academic education at University because - due to the fact that there is a fairly strong focus on non-academic matters - I tend to learn more in academic areas as well. This statement may seem paradoxical at first glance, but it truly is not. Coming from almost 10 years of public school education, I have seen first hand the various approaches to education, and can vouch for the fact that this system works the best, at least for me. The linear academic focus one finds at public school is ultimately detrimental to a students academic growth. I never felt any kind of connection to the classes I was in, even in the subjects I liked. As such, I never applied myself in any manner, a decision which has had repercussions for me to this day - although in retrospect I do not see how I could have done anything any differently. The focus at UHS is much different, there is a much greater emphasis placed on non-academic functions. I feel I have gotten to know teachers here far better in my two and a half years than I did in 6 years at the Westfield school system. As such, I am much more inclined to apply myself in classes, and I have pushed myself in other areas as well, some of which include joining a school sport, auditioning for plays, and pursueing community service. All of these are things that I never felt comfortable attempting in my old environment, simply because the focus was so narrow, that any deviation was seen as incorrect. But not allowing any variation from the norm, we are ultimately hurting students, and limiting their academic and personal growth.