Black Boy Dreams, Hopes, and Plans Quotes Page 3
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| Quote #7 "Wake up there, boy!" Mr. Olin said one day. "Sir!" I answered for the lack of a better word. "You act like you’ve stolen something," he said. (1.13.77) |
This scene rocks, because Mr. Olin gets it without even realizing that he’s got it. Richard did steal something: a little bit of the American Dream.
| Quote #8 Yet I knew—with that part of my mind that the whites had given me—that none of my dreams was possible. Then I would hate myself for allowing my mind to dwell upon the unattainable. Thus the circle would complete itself. (2.15.39) |
Now that Richard is getting older, he doesn’t want to dream about unattainable stuff anymore. Evidently wanting to be awesome is little kid stuff.
| Quote #9 To solve this tangle of balked emotion, I loaded the empty part of the ship of my personality with fantasies of ambition to keep it from toppling over into the sea of senselessness. Like any other American, I dreamed of going into business and making money; I dreamed of working for a firm that would allow me to advance until I reached an important position; I even dreamed of organizing secret groups of blacks to fight all whites […]" (2.15.39) |
"When I grow up I want to be a doctor, and a ballerina, and an astronaut, and a chef, and a truck driver... "
