Saturday, September 5, 2009

Reflecting on Richard Wright

Yesterday, literary scholar Jerry W. Ward, Jr., sent an email to a large group of us who've studied the novelist Richard Wright's career and reminded us that September 4, marked the 101 years since Wright's birth in 1908. Ward asked us to reflect on the following words from Wright in 1944 related to his autobiography Black Boy:
“...to tell the truth is the hardest thing on earth, harder than fighting in a war, harder than taking part in a revolution. Indeed I discovered that writing like that is a kind of war and revolution.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting quote...

Whose truth is hardest to tell? Is it the truth of the downtrodden, oppressed, and neglected? Is it the truth of those in the loop, pretending to embrace the outcasts while comfortably making their comments without rolling up their sleeves?
Is it Wright's truth? Can truth be distorted by personal values, assuptioms, beliefs, and expectations? Truth is pure. Is man pure?

Let's explore the truth.

--Miss Mission