THE AMBIVALENT ROLE OF THE BLACK FAMILY IN RICHARD WRIGHT'S MAJOR WRITINGS

According to an analysis of the 1910 census, "black mothers with children were more than three times as likely to be living without a male partner in the household as were white mothers with children, [and] black children were more often raised by kin other than their parents, even when the parents were still alive" (Cherlin 1992:109-110). According to Green (2009:47), this work seems to be Wright's "attempt to address his feelings about his father as the foundation for the feelings that emerge in his life after his father leaves." [...]the only communication he seems to have with Richard is when he scolds or beats him. Since the father is gone, Ella Wright is now the one who has to take over the responsibility to provide for the family, she is now the mother and the father to her children and has no man in her life who could complement what she does.