Exploring Wright's Character and Behavior in The Library Card

This assignment delves into Richard Wright's character and behavior as depicted in 'The Library Card'. The solution examines Wright's 'station in life,' highlighting the challenges he faced due to racial segregation. It explores how Wright adapted his behavior to conform to societal expectations while also defying stereotypes through his intellectual pursuits and reading habits. Furthermore, the assignment draws parallels to the student's personal experiences, discussing instances where they had to navigate societal pressures and stereotypes, and detailing coping mechanisms such as introspection and creative expression. The solution provides references to support the analysis.

The Library Card

What is Wright's "station in life"?
Wright’s “station in life” is that of Richard Wright’s life when he found out that being a Negro it
is very difficult for him to understand enough about the people about whom he desired to write
(Albee, 1961). During this phase of life, he was facing racial segregation in society because of
Jim Crow laws.
In what ways does he adapt his behavior to accommodate this Jim
Crow image? In which ways does he defy this stereotype?
Despite being full of thoughts and sadness about the inability to become a professional man, he
kept maintained his old behavior (Albee, 1961). In order to maintain this behavior, he avoided
conversations and behaved normally as was expected by others.
He could defy the stereotypes by reading and accepting the fact that none of the Negro he knew
would have read or even thought of the books which he used to read (Albee, 1961). He was
inclining towards the activities which made him feel different from other Negroes.
Has there ever been a time where you had to adapt your image to
accommodate or defeat societal expectations or stereotypes?
Yes, at times we find myself full of evil thoughts because of arguments with friends and family.
There are situations when we know that our arguments are correct, but others do not understand
us. In these situations our mind becomes restless, but we cannot tell this feeling to anyone as we
are expected to do so. We are expected to behave normally as they see us every day and we
behave just the way it is expected from us keeping everything in mind and allowing to come out.

In order to defeat such societal expectation, we try to stay alone for some time and either try to
match our feeling with those in movies and novels. We even pour our hearts out by writing about
the experiences and feelings in a personal diary.

References
Albee, E. (1961). The American Dream. London: Samuel French.