Richard's "Hunger"

Richard "hungers" for a better life. He may be physically hungry most of the time, because his family cannot afford that much food, but Richard is also mentally hungry. He wants to learn and to think for himself. He has dreams to become a writer, an unheard of dream in the black south. His family doesn't understand his hunger, especially not his grandmother. She wants him to be a sensible, religious, boy who gets a boring job that brings in decent money. But Richard hungers for more. He hungers for more than his life has offered him thus far, he pushes the limits of everyone around him. He works hard in school so that he can be the best he can be. He works strenous and time-consuming jobs, just so he can have enough money to eat himself. Richard talks about leaving quite often and I think that is because his family and the south are trying to hold him back from his big, bold dreams. The positive effects of "hunger" are that they cause Richard to dream big and work so very hard. He is not fine with settling with the life that has been set before him. However, on the negative side "hunger" brings enemies. People do not believe in Richard's dreams, isolating him. If any whites ever found out they might be inclined to kill him, or at least try to stop him. He will never be a true member of his peer group because while most of them are willing to settle, Richard voices his want for more beyond the south. This must make Richard and other black dreamers feel very, very alone.