Wright’s mother works hard to support Richard and his brother from a young age, but after her husband leaves the family, she must take on additional work in the kitchens of white families. Wright’s mother later succumbs to a series of strokes and is ill for much of Wright’s young life. At the end of the memoir, however, Wright’s mother has built up enough strength to be able to move North, to Chicago, with Wright, his brother, and Aunt Maggie.
Wright’s mother Quotes in Black Boy
The Black Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Wright’s mother or refer to Wright’s mother. 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:
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Harper Perennial edition of Black Boy published in 2015.
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Chapter 2
Quotes
Mama, is Granny white?
If you’ve got eyes, you can see what color she is.
I mean, do the white folks think she’s white?
Why don’t you ask the white folks that?
But you know.
Why should I know? I’m not white.
Granny looks white. Then why is she living with us colored folks?
Don’t you want Granny to live with us?
Related Characters:
Richard Wright (speaker), Wright’s mother (speaker), Granny
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Why are there so many black men wearing stripes?
It’s because . . . Well, they’re harder on black people.
Related Characters:
Richard Wright (speaker), Wright’s mother (speaker)
Related Symbols:
The “switch”
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
Son, you ought to be more serious. You’re growing up now and you won’t be able to get jobs if you let people think that you’re weak-minded. Suppose the superintendent of schools would ask you to teach here in Jackson, and he found out that you had been writing stories?
Related Characters:
Wright’s mother (speaker), Richard Wright
Related Symbols:
Books and Novels
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Black Boy LitChart as a printable PDF.

Wright’s mother Character Timeline in Black Boy
The timeline below shows where the character Wright’s mother appears in Black Boy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...book’s author and narrator—and his unnamed brother sit quietly in their house in Mississippi. Their mother informs them that they must stay quiet, because their grandmother (their father’s mother) is dying....
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...tugging at him, and his father pulls Richard from out of his hiding place. Richard’s mother and father at first seem relieved that Richard is okay, and they tell Richard that...
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Richard’s brother is horrified by Richard’s actions, and Richard’s mother chastises him, saying that it was a sin to kill the cat, and that Richard...
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...there is no food in the house. At first, when he tells this to his mother, she laughs and says he should catch a “kungry” if he’s hungry—an imaginary beast that...
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His mother begins sending Richard out to buy groceries, and a pack of young boys in the...
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Richard’s mother begins working as a cook for a white family, and Richard—who is forced to watch...
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One day, Richard’s mother orders coal for the house and tells Richard to wait for the delivery man to...
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...this age—around six—Richard also learns of the hatred between “white” and “black” people from his mother. Richard is at first confused, since his Granny (his mother’s mother) has very light skin...
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Richard’s mother scrapes together money to send Richard to school—she must buy him a uniform so he...
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Richard’s mother becomes more observantly religious after his father leaves, and she invites the preacher from the...
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Richard goes to court with his brother and mother as his mother attempts to argue before a judge that Richard’s father should pay child...
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...takes Richard back to the orphanage, where he is lashed by Miss Simon. When his mother next visits, she tells Richard that he must remain in the orphanage and be a...
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His mother agrees to take Richard out of the orphanage if he will go to his father...
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Chapter 2
Richard’s mother comes back to Richard—who has not yet left the orphanage, since his mother still cannot...
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Richard’s mother and the two boys stop in Jackson to see Granny, who lives in a relatively...
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Richard’s mother falls ill again and remains in her bed. One night, when Granny is bathing Richard...
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...the more peaceful moments he and his brother enjoy with Grandpa and Granny. But Richard’s mother soon takes Richard and his brother aboard a train to Arkansas, where they will live...
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Richard asks if he is black, and his mother says that society will view him as “colored,” but that Richard’s ancestry is really a...
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Richard, his brother, and his mother move in with his Aunt Maggie—his mother’s sister—and her husband, Uncle Hoskins. The house in...
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...Although Maggie wishes to go down to the bar to find out what happened, Richard’s mother urges her to stay home. Because Hoskins was killed extra-legally, and because the white authorities...
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After some time, Richard’s mother decides that Granny’s strict religious rules in the house are too much to bear, and...
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...and carries him back home, then launches into a tirade when Aunt Maggie and Richard’s mother return from their jobs (they are once again cooking for white families in the area)....
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...as he only visits Richard’s house at night, and when Richard asks his aunt and mother about this, they reply that Matthews is on the run from white people who wish...
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One night, Matthews enters the house in a hurry and tells Maggie and Richard’s mother, with Richard overhearing from his bedroom, that he (Matthews) has set fire to a house...
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...and takes his dog home. The dog is later crushed by a car, and his mother calls Richard a “fool” for not taking the money—as now the family has no money...
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Richard’s mother finds a new job as an assistant to a white doctor, and her wages are...
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Chapter 3
...Richard is hit in the head with a rock, and when he later shows his mother what happened, she beats him, saying that white boys could kill Richard in a fight...
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One day, Richard’s brother calls him in to his mother’s bedroom, and the two boys discover that their mother is paralyzed on her left side,...
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...his insolence, Richard begs again to be sent back to Jackson, to Granny and his mother, and Clark finally agrees to do so. By the end of the week, Richard is...
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After returning to be with his mother, Richard realizes that her series of operations and treatments will leave her mostly sick for...
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Chapter 4
Richard recognizes that he is now an “uninvited dependent” in Granny’s home—since his mother is no longer earning money, but rather lying in her bed, and since Richard’s brother...
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...she tries to beat him, since he has done nothing to deserve punishment. Granny, Richard’s mother, and Grandpa finally persuade Richard to put down the knife, but Granny and Grandpa call...
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Chapter 5
...converting Richard to Christianity, and Richard settles into an uneasy truce with them, as his mother recovers enough at least to encourage Richard in his studies from her bed. Richard enrolls...
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One summer day, Richard is sitting on the porch steps with Granny, Addie, and mother. Granny and Addie are arguing about “religious doctrine,” as they often do, and Richard is...
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...altogether, Granny relents, and Richard is permitted to work on Saturdays. When Richard tells his mother this, she is proud of him for standing up to Granny and Addie.
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Chapter 6
Richard’s mother again begins to recover from her stroke-induced paralysis, and starts going to a Methodist church...
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Richard’s mother does so, and begins weeping and praying for Richard, begging him to accept Christ and...
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In the summer after seventh grade, Richard's mother again falls ill. To bring in extra money and help around the house, Granny and...
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Chapter 10
...is leaving town for Memphis, and that he won’t be returning any time soon. His mother worries that he is leaving to avoid some crime he has committed, and Richard does...
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Chapter 13
Richard’s brother, who has been living in Jackson with their mother, comes up to Memphis with her to join Richard, and the three move into a...
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Chapter 14
...a white person’s house earlier in the memoir, no longer lives with her). Maggie, Richard's mother and brother, and Richard all decide simply to leave for Chicago as soon as possible,...
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Chapter 15
During this time, Richard moves with his Aunt Maggie out of Aunt Cleo’s apartment. Richard’s mother and brother also move in, and they live in close quarters together. Richard spends much...
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Chapter 16
...companies can no longer make money selling policies on the South Side. He and his mother move to a cheaper apartment, which is falling down and miserable. Unable to find work,...
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Chapter 18
When Richard’s mother realizes that her son has been reading Communist material, she worries. Richard remarks inwardly that...
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