When Wright initially learns of his mother's paralysis, he reacts coldly. He immediately understands that he can no longer be as a child anymore, and he also feels a need to distance himself from her in the event of her death. Additionally, her illness exposes to him the dependancy that he resented so much. I think that he subconsciously realized how much of a child he was at the moment that he had to surrender his childhood.
After staying at his Uncle's house for a while, Richard begs to return to his mother. However, when he gets there, he writes, "I ached to be of an age to take care of myself." It's as if longs to be free, but on a deeper level feels the bonds of family and childhood.
When treatment failed, Richard began to emotionally cut himself off from his mother. If this were of an historical account, that would likely be because he was taking protective measures for himself in case he lost her. However, he then writes that his "mother's suffering gew into a symbol...[for] all the poverty, the ignorance, the helplessness, the...hunger-ridden days...the uncertainty, the fear, the dread; the meaningless pain and the endless suffering." By removing himself from he mother, he emotionally detached himself from both his suffering and the suffering of his race that had no cause. There was no way to deny its existence, but hardening himself to it could help him bear the pain.
1 comment:
I agree with the latter part of your analysis, but I disagree with the first part. I don't think Wright reacts coldly to his mother's paralysis. He reacts with shock, with horror. This is not coldness. He is stunned into fright. His lack of emotion is not lack of caring; it's lack of understanding about what is happening to him and his mother.
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