Gratification

Wright felt gratified when the woman heard his story because he could finally communicate. I now concede my earlier point; Wright really is trying to equate hunger with the desire to communicate, to understand. In essence, his hunger is a hunger to belong in this world which hates him so thoroughly. White people hate him because he is black, blacks distrust him because he is educated, or because he unwittingly sells KKK newspapers. Even his family hates him, seeing him as a lost soul and someone who refuses to repent and be welcomed into the arms of Christ. Everything he says or does is pounced upon by someone else and he is made to pay for it, either with a beating from his family, a beating from schoolmates, or humiliation in some form or another. Because the world hates him so Wright is hungry- starving, in fact- for acceptance and belonging. Which brings me back to the point of this blog. Wright finally finds a way of belonging, or if not belonging, of at least forcing the world around him to accept him for who he is. He has changed the world by writing his story and he finally has a way to make the world understand him as well as a way to understand the world.