In the book Black Boy by Richard Wright, Wright was often told to be careful about what he said or did around white people. Wright would try to watch what he said and did around the white folk, but he often had trouble acting like the "Uncle Tom" stereotype the whites expected him to be. His friend Griggs tried to explain that his very life was in jeopardy if he did not act that way " '...you may think I'm an Uncle Tom, but I'm not. I hate these white people, hate 'em with all my heart. But I can't show it; if I did, they'd kill me,'"(Wright 185). Griggs tells Wright that he has to act like an Uncle Tom and obey white commands even if he hates it that his pride is trampled on. Even though Wright knows he has to act like an Uncle Tom around white people, he still cannot act that way because his pride steps in and controls his actions.
             The first of Wright's failures after his talk with Griggs about being an Uncle Tom was at the first optical company Wright worked for. When his coworker Reynolds asked Wright if he could spin like a top on his genitalia, Wright ignored him and turned away. Pease, his second coworker, called him over and said " 'You didn't like it. I could see it on your face,'" (Wright 188). Wright knew he had failed in his attempt to act like an Uncle Tom, because an Uncle Tom never disapproves of a white mans request, and Pease had seen his look of disapproval. Wright's pride had made him show his disapproval, and his attempt to act like an Uncle Tom failed because of it.
             Wright failed a second time when he walked home from his work at the hotel with another black girl. As they walked by the white watchman, he slapped her on the buttocks. Wright clearly disapproved of this, and he stopped in his tracks to look back at the watchman. He soon realized his terrible mistake, "My immobility must have seemed a challenge to h...