In the novel Black Boy, Richard is hungry for food as well as other things. Richard lives in a time of injustice, and violence, where Richard has to basically fend for himself. He hungers for knowledge in the beginning of the book, and also for respect. He longs to provide for himself and leave his abusive family.
Richard is denied the opportunity to a good education. He is unable to go to school for a long time, and even in school he is not taught properly how to read or write. His interest in books and reading was sparked when Richard’s family moved in with his grandparents. His grandma hired a housekeeper named Ella, who Richard begged to read to him, and she did. Richard became engaged in these stories and wanted to read more of them, but after Ella was fired, there were no more storied to be told. Richard taught himself how to read through trying to decipher the words in old books, and eventually he was able to comprehend them enough to know what was going on. Later on in the book, Richard enjoyed writing stories during his prayer hour.
Richard also hungered for respect from his classmates. He moved around from one place to another quite frequently so at each school he needed to regain his respect. He would do so by showing his strength and fighting with the other students. Sometimes there would be a reason to his fighting, like kids making fun of his straw hat but other times he just fought for the sake of fighting. This was his way of pointing out his territory and setting his place in the society of school.
Richards longing to be on his own grew as he got older. He searched for jobs that he could do under his grandma’s rules. He took any job that fit, like selling newspapers, working for an insurance salesman, and working in white people’s households. With these jobs he was able to have a social life with his classmates, and he was able to buy thing for himself. Although all these things taught Richard something valuable the effect that they made on him were not always good. He became more independent and wouldn’t listen to his family. For example when his grandma tried to beat him for doing something wrong he dodged he swing and it ended up hurting her back. He would also threaten his aunt with a knife if she ever came too close to her. This behavior eventually leads to the family shunning him. But although his grandmother and aunt are not happy with him, Richard’s mother is grateful to have such a tough and independent son.