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 wrights realization in this excerpt?

wright acknowledges that the city that destroyed his fathers 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 fathers failure.

Explanation:

Analyze the contrast in the excerpt

Using the Richard Wright Analysis and Autobiographical Perspective knowledge points
The excerpt contrasts the father's experience in the city with the narrator's own experience. The father "had failed in the city" and his life was "hopelessly snarled" there. In contrast, the narrator describes the city as having "lifted me in its burning arms and borne me toward alien and undreamed-of shores of knowing." This contrast shows that while the city destroyed the father's dreams, it served as a catalyst for the narrator's intellectual growth and success.

Evaluate the answer choices

• Option 1: "Wright acknowledges that the city that destroyed his father's dreams was the same city that fulfilled his own." This directly matches the contrast between the father's failure ("failed in the city") and the narrator's elevation ("lifted me... toward... shores of knowing").
• Option 2: "Wright acknowledges that his father was destined to fail..." The text does not mention destiny or future generations failing.
• Option 3: "Wright acknowledges that his father had the same opportunities..." The text emphasizes their opposite outcomes rather than equal opportunities.
• Option 4: "Wright acknowledges that his success was based solely on the lessons..." The text does not state that his success was based solely on his father's failures, but rather on his own journey in the city.

Answer:

• (A) Wright acknowledges that the city that destroyed his father's dreams was the same city that fulfilled his own. (Correct answer)
• (B) Wright acknowledges that his father was destined to fail in the city, just as generations failed after him.
• (C) Wright acknowledges that his father had the same opportunities in the city he did.
• (D) Wright acknowledges that his success was based solely on the lessons he learned from his father's failure.