Sharing Writing

After sharing his story, Wright feels gratified, despite the fact that in his family's world, there was "nothing more alien than writing or the desire to express one's self in writing." In fact, I would say that that's one of the reasons he feels so gratified. Through his entire life, especially in the period of life he's in in chapters 4 and 5, he has been prevented from expressing himself. When he is in an environment where he's allowed to, hunger and poverty prevents him from doing so. At the times where physical demands have been met for the most part, he has been forced to succumb to Granny's will. Under her roof, the only written words that aren't blasphemous are found in the Bible. By jotting down his story, Wright is finally able to do something that is strictly for himself.

However, sharing it is what makes it so valuable to him. For his entire life, Wright has not been encouraged to develop his intellectual skills. He is either uprooted too quickly or is in an environment not conducive to learning. When Wright finally shares a piece of work that he made and sees that his audience is impressed, iit is the first time that he is able to really take pride in something that he has done.