Big Boy Leaves Home

“Big Boy Leaves Home” takes place in a rural setting and includes rich descriptions of nature. How do Wright’s depictions of nature symbolically reinforce the story’s themes?

“Big Boy Leaves Home” was published as the first story in a collection called Uncle Tom’s Children. How does the individual story connect with the collection’s title?

“Big Boy Leaves Home” alludes to elements of African American folklore that can be read symbolically. If the story itself is read as a kind of fable, what might the lesson be? If it is read as an allegory about African American life, who or what might Big Boy symbolize?

How does “Big Boy Leaves Home” speak to and undermine the conventions of a typical coming-of-age story? Why might Wright have chosen to write within this genre?

“Big Boy Leaves Home” was written as protest literature. Which elements of the story and literary techniques do you find most and/or least effective when it comes to raising the audience’s consciousness about racism and inspiring social change?

“Big Boy Leaves Home” is also a story about masculinity and violence between men. Write an essay about the important peripheral role of women in the text. How are women represented? Is their representation in the text problematic?

There are very few explicit descriptions of the characters in “Big Boy Leaves Home.” Why do you think Wright uses indirect modes of characterization and withholds so much information about Big Boy and his past? Which details does he choose to include and why?

Much of what happens in “Big Boy Leaves Home” is down to chance. What roles do chance and will play in the story, and what might this say about the African American experience?