An African-American man who works at another optometry shop across the street from Richard’s in Memphis, Harrison later agrees to box with Richard to entertain the white workers in that neighborhood. After the fight, both Richard and Harrison are ashamed of their performance for their white racist “co-workers,” and the two rarely speak again.
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Harrison Character Timeline in Black Boy
The timeline below shows where the character Harrison appears in Black Boy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 12
...white foreman in the optician’s shop, who tells Richard that a young black man named Harrison, in a “rival shop” across the street, wants to fight Richard. Richard is confused by...
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...and a few other white men from the shop ask Richard if he would fight Harrison with gloves, while other white men stand around watching and betting on the action. Richard’s...
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The fight is held on a Saturday, and Richard and Harrison are surrounded by agitated and boisterous white men, who begin shouting when the fighting starts....
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