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Significance of Opening Scene: The coming of age of Richard is shown through his family’s move to Memphis. Going into this new city introduced him to gangs, drunks, bars, school, and hunger. The significance of the first scene is that it shows the early childhood of Richard and how he had to learn the hard way about a lot of things. One of the things that would have the biggest impact on him, and continue to for the rest of his life, was when his father left their family. It left so many questions marks in his life at such a young age, that it left an imprint on him forever. Living in the environment he did, Richard learned about things that most learn about much later in their lives. Significance of Closing Scene: The point of the closing scene of Part 1 is to show that Richard was finally on his way to his dream of moving to Chicago. He worked hard for money to provide his family with for almost his entire life, and finally it was his turn to do something with his life. It was something he wanted to do all his life, but it was almost as if he had to go, to escape the terror of the south which he survived in up until this point. Plot Summary: Richard, his brother, his mother, and his father started life in a small house in the country, but soon move to Memphis. Richard’s father leaves their family for another woman, so Richard’s mother has to go to work and soon Richard starts going to saloons and bars to spend his days.
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