It Takes Three Weeks to Starve

Hunger is presented in a multitude ways in this first passage of "Black Boy." First, there is the most literal sense: the family has fallen on hard times, mostly due to the father's leaving and the general lack of income that resulted. Furthermore, people get hungry when they don't eat (shocking, i know). Hunger is further explored as Richard has to fight for his food, and by extension, to end his hunger. Hunger is also presented in the quest for knowledge that Richard endeavors, as he begins to explore the curious tensions between black and white people. He yearns to know why the white family has all the food they could possibly want, while he must continue to be hungry.