Outside of the writers whom Richard comes to admire, there are no male models in his life. His grandfather has remained all but invisible. Those men he has had contact with have repelled him. He hates their failure to rebel when they are the potential righters of wrong. The life of his grandfather only affirms the growing impression he has of blacks as unconscious coconspirators in a racist system. In his later work, Wright seems to be saying that every act short of killing is an act of cowardice on the part of a black man. And perhaps if his grandfather had gone out and shot a white man in revenge for his tragic life, Richard would have had one male model to look up to. Instead, he witnesses one frustration after another, and it all contributes to his growing rage.
Richard himself has learned to rebel. His mother trained him to defend himself in the streets by locking the door on him. In this chapter, we see that the act of rebellion cannot be separated from one's life style. It is natural for Richard to resist his grandmother when her commands are irrational. It doesn't involve thought or planning. When he threatens to leave her house if she doesn't allow him to work, he means it. He is not playing on her sympathies. He is a rebel, and so Granny gives in. For this successful act of resistance, he receives a kiss from his mother who, with that one gesture, sums up the tragic losses of her own life.
