give in to get out.

Stealing. Richard, while working at the hotel is faced with the dilemma of whether or not to steal. He knows that morally stealing is wrong. He also knows that the white race, and even the black race have decided that, and expect him to steal. Richard is a poor black man. They expect poor black men to steal. Society expects Richard to steal. All of his life he has lived against the expectations of him because he is a poor black man. He wants to get to the North because in his mind, the only way to be able to live without these restrictions is to get out of the South. He knows that the sooner he gets out, the better. Stealing will get him out faster. This is when he decides that he will do anything to get out. In his mind he justifies stealing. They already expect him to steal, and even he doesn’t they will still suspect it, so why not just do it. I agree that this is a good justification, but I think this makes him extremely hypocritical. It makes perfect sense, but he has done so much to not give in. He gives in to get out. I too would steal to get out. I won’t deny that. I just feel that if he truly wanted to rise above what is expected of him, he would have found another way. He obviously regrets stealing, considering he starts sobbing in the train during his trip to the North. Perhaps this is why I don’t think he is good, or bad. He is neutral.