Question

read the excerpt from black boy.

he asked easy, drawling questions about me, his other son, his wife, and he laughed, amused, when i informed him of their destinies. i forgave him and pitied him as my eyes looked past him to the unpainted wooden shack. 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 statement best describes how wrights cultural perspective influences his decision to forgive his father?

wrights cultural perspective helps him forget the way his father behaved when wright was a child.
wrights cultural perspective helps him understand the difficulties his father faced throughout life.
wrights cultural perspective causes him to feel betrayed and angry with his father for his past behavior.
wrights cultural perspective causes him to regret the way he treated his father when wright was a child.

Explanation:

Analyze the excerpt

Using the Richard Wright Analysis and Autobiographical Perspective knowledge points

The excerpt from Black Boy shows the narrator looking at his father and realizing his father's identity as a "black peasant" who was "hopelessly snarled in the city" and eventually fled back to the plantation. This realization allows Wright to see his father not merely as a parent who abandoned him, but as a victim of broader socioeconomic and cultural forces of his time.

Evaluate the options

Using the Autobiographical Perspective knowledge point

• Option 1 suggests he forgets his father's childhood behavior, which is incorrect; he remembers but views it differently.
• Option 2 states his perspective helps him understand his father's lifelong struggles, which directly matches his realization of his father as a "black peasant" defeated by the city.
• Option 3 suggests anger and betrayal, which contradicts his statement "I forgave him and pitied him."
• Option 4 suggests regret over his own childhood treatment of his father, which is not supported by the text.

Answer:

• Wright's cultural perspective helps him forget the way his father behaved when Wright was a child.
• Wright's cultural perspective helps him understand the difficulties his father faced throughout life. (Correct answer)
• Wright's cultural perspective causes him to feel betrayed and angry with his father for his past behavior.
• Wright's cultural perspective causes him to regret the way he treated his father when Wright was a child.