Question

Read the excerpt from Black Boy. From far beyond the horizons that bound this bleak plantation there had come to me through my living the knowledge that my father was a black peasant who had gone to the city seeking life, but who had failed in the city; a black peasant whose life had been hopelessly snarled in the city, and who had at last fled the city—that same city which had lifted me in its burning arms and borne me toward alien and undreamed-of shores of knowing. Which best describes Wright’s realization in this excerpt?
Wright acknowledges that the city that destroyed his father’s dreams was the same city that fulfilled his own.
Wright acknowledges that his father was destined to fail in the city, just as generations failed after him.
Wright acknowledges that his father had the same opportunities in the city he did.
Wright acknowledges that his success was based solely on the lessons he learned from his father’s failure.

Answer 1

The statement that best describes Wright's realization in this excerpt is "Wright acknowledges that the city that destroyed his father's dreams was the same city that fulfilled his own".

Black Boy (1945) is a memoir written by Richard Wright. The book is divided in two parts: "Southern Night", where he talks about his childhood in the South (Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee), and "The Horror and the Glory", where he discusses the events that took place during his early adult years in the city of Chicago.

In this excerpt, what implies that Wright had a good experience in the city is the use of the adjectives "alien" and "undreamed-of", which, in this case, have a positive connotation. In contrast, he uses the words "failed" and "snarled" to talk about his father's life in the same city.

Answer 2

A. Wright acknowledges that the city that destroyed his father's dreams was the same city that fulfilled his own.