Southern Summer Night Figurative Language

Southern Summer Nights
1. What is the subject of this text? What is it about? What sections of the text in particular helped you come to this conclusion? And, what is the theme of the text? What central message is the writer trying to convey?
The subject of this text appears to be a young boy by the name of Richard Wright who tells his life story commencing from his “four-year-old-days” (3) until his early adulthood. The opening sentence in chapter 1 stated that the opening sequence took place during “one winter [... in the] four-year-old days of [his] life” where he found himself “standing before a fireplace” (3). By reading further along, descriptions of Richard’s home and family can convey the theme of past experiences. The usage of past
2 years later followed by his second fictional piece, The Man Who Was Almost a Man, which was followed a year later by Native Son. Richard Wright also published works of nonfiction, which include 12 Million Black Voices, printed in 1941 by New York: Viking, as well as essays and poetry. Blackboy was “designed to illuminate how obscene was [the] denial of access to full participation in the democratic process by law, custom, and the practice of race”. It was a way for Americans, and for the readers, to see Richard’s response “to the call of the most sacred American principles regarding human rights” (XV). His autobiography stirred success that followed Uncle Tom’s Children and the financial stability from Native Son. The purpose was to inform his readers of his life as a child and how it felt like to be a black male in “an oppressive society” (XV) and it’s consistency remains the same throughout the
My mind was a blank canvas that was painted to see “a piece of rope, made [into] a noose, slipped [around a] kitten’s neck, [as it is was] pulled [...] over a nail, [jerking] the animal clear of the ground” (11). Paintings of the poor creature gasping and “[clawing] the air frantically” (11) multiplied in my head as Richard stated “that kitten [couldn’t] even breathe” (11) implying that he ended an innocent’s kitten’s life to threaten his father’s authority. Seeing how Richard was younger than 6 at this point, being the cause of an animal’s life by means of showing criticism towards his father, stood out to me as an early sign of defying authority as well as mental instability. Research conducted in the 1970’s concluded that “childhood cruelty to animals [was] the first warning sign of later delinquency, violence, and criminal behavior” even though he committed such an act as a form of imitation (psychologytoday.com). To put it in simple and concise words, this act set off a red flag in my head. Down the line, Richard got into an argument with his aunt. Refusing to get beaten for something he did not do, Richard “grabbed [...] a knife and held it ready for her” (108). Defending himself not only from his aunt, but his Uncle Tom as well, Richard found himself with “a razor in each hand” (159). The images of him grasping onto knives and razors,