Question

read the excerpt from black boy.

then my father was called; he came forward jauntily, smiling. he tried to kiss my mother, but she turned away from him. i only heard one sentence of what he said.

\im doing all i can, your honor,\ he mumbled, grinning.

it had been painful to sit and watch my mother crying and my father laughing and i was glad when we were outside in the sunny streets. back at home my mother wept again and talked complainingly about the unfairness of the judge who had accepted my fathers word.

what societal norm of the early twentieth century does this excerpt reflect?

women cherished their domestic roles within the home.
men were considered more able and trustworthy than women.
judges spent a great deal of time reviewing court cases.
courts were impartial mediators in marital disputes.

Explanation:

Analyze the literary context

Using the Richard Wright Analysis and Autobiographical Perspective knowledge points, we examine this excerpt from Richard Wright's memoir Black Boy. The scene depicts a courtroom setting where the narrator's mother is crying while his father is laughing and grinning. The judge accepts the father's word ("I'm doing all I can, Your Honor") despite the mother's clear distress and subsequent complaints about the "unfairness of the judge who had accepted my father's word."

Evaluate the historical and societal norms

The excerpt highlights a specific early twentieth-century societal dynamic where a male figure's word is readily accepted by a male judge over a woman's emotional and factual reality. This reflects a historical bias where men were legally and socially deemed more credible, capable, and trustworthy than women in public and legal spheres.

Assess the given options

• Option 1: "Women cherished their domestic roles within the home." This is irrelevant to the courtroom conflict and the mother's distress.
• Option 2: "Men were considered more able and trustworthy than women." This directly aligns with the judge immediately believing the father's minimal, grinning assertion over the mother's weeping and protests.
• Option 3: "Judges spent a great deal of time reviewing court cases." The text suggests the opposite, as the judge quickly accepted the father's word without deep investigation.
• Option 4: "Courts were impartial mediators in marital disputes." The mother's lament about the "unfairness of the judge" directly contradicts this option.

Answer:

• Women cherished their domestic roles within the home.
• Men were considered more able and trustworthy than women. (Correct answer)
• Judges spent a great deal of time reviewing court cases.
• Courts were impartial mediators in marital disputes.