The Library Card

                                                                                    Richard Wright, USA (1908 – 1960)
Summary in English

This is an autobiographical story which focuses on the importance of education that helps us understand ourselves, others, the mysteries of the world and the essence of life. In addition, it shows the racial discrimination between the white and the black people in America.
The writer as a Negro boy reads a newspaper editorial in the lobby of a bank. He finds the article about H.L. Mencken, popular white writer. Mencken was badly denounced (hated) by the white race. The writer has never read such a sharp criticism to the white writer by the white races. It is because the boy has had bitter experience of the social and color discrimination. White people have never sympathy for the black rather they are taken as out-caste or animals. Therefore, Richard Wright is curious to know the reason of hatred and is highly inspired to real his books. Therefore, he wants to go to library to obtain the books by Mencken.
However, blacks are deprived of their rights, freedom, education, equality, justice and other opportunities. They are not allowed to use the library. Being black, the writer does not have a library card of his own. But he starts serving many white men on collecting books from the library thinking that he can get chance to use library card.
One day, his boss Mr. Falk, an Irish Catholic, gives him his two library cards. He warns the boy (writer) to use the card properly so that he would not get in trouble. However, the white librarian refuses to lend the books without the permission letter of the owner of the cards. Anyway, the boy uses his creative mind and forges a note i.e. the white man's name in the card, and collects books from the library.
The writer firstly reads "Prefaces" and "Prejudice" by Mencken. In the initial phase, because of his limited knowledge and poor English, he could not understand the books. However, he soon realizes that words could be more powerful than any weapons. He returns those books and borrows the other ones. His reading helps him to understand more about life and people. He becomes quite intelligent. He realizes the sufferings of slaves, suppression and oppression of cruel law by the white against the black. The hatred of the white men arises bitter feeling in his conscious mind and heart. Finally, he becomes the successful writer and scholar to fight against racial discrimination and prejudices of the whites over blacks in America.