A Civil War veteran for the Union, Wright’s grandfather is denied his pension by a clerical mistake that misspelled his name, and which he believes was not in fact a mistake but was instead racially motivated. Having helped to achieve black freedom from slavery as a soldier, Grandpa’s experience serves as a kind of symbol of the way that black people were exploited and thwarted immediately upon the attainment of their independence. Grandpa is mostly absent, sick in bed, during Wright’s youth, but Wright pays his respects to Grandpa at his funeral, and wonders whether Grandpa’s life wasn’t ruined by the impossible quest to receive his pension from a racist and impersonal federal government.
Grandpa Quotes in Black Boy
The Black Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Grandpa or refer to Grandpa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5
Quotes
Uncle Tom, Granny says to come at once. Grandpa’s dead.
You certainly are a prize fool. Don’t you know that that’s no way to tell a person that his father’s dead?
I ran all the way out here . . . I’m out of breath. I’m sorry.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Grandpa Quotes in Black Boy
The Black Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Grandpa or refer to Grandpa. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5
Quotes
Uncle Tom, Granny says to come at once. Grandpa’s dead.
You certainly are a prize fool. Don’t you know that that’s no way to tell a person that his father’s dead?
I ran all the way out here . . . I’m out of breath. I’m sorry.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
