stealing

Wright realizes by knowing other black people that are working with him that the only way he can really get ahead is to steal. He had never really thought about stealing before... not because it was morally wrong, but just because it had never crossed his mind. He had always kind of had the idea that if he worked hard and was honest then white people would either seem him as an equal or at least treat him better. Unfortunately he learns that all black people are treated the same way, all of them are expected to be stupid and to "know their place", and he mentions that it scares white people even more when black people know that they should be treated as equals. Wright decides that the only way he can get out of the south is to steal. He justifies this by saying that it is very minor compared to the way he is treated by white people every day. Although at first I didn;t want him to steal as I was reading the book, simply because he had never lowered himself to the white person's level in the past, I realized that his life was a living hell and the only reason he was even having this dilemma was so he could go somewhere where he could possibly make more of an impact and make a difference. Though it bothers me that he is doing exactly what the white people expect of him by being a criminal and keeping his head down, he is really only acting this way so that he can keep up appearances until he can get out of there. For this, I think he is justified.