Wright and his anger towards Uncle Tom

Why is Wright so angry with his uncle Tom?

Richard Wright's uncle, Tom, moved in with the family and it created numerous problems. First, there was a lack of space - the house was overcrowded. Second, there was another person around to bother Richard. It seemed that everybody in the crowded household had an issue with Richard - whether it was over his lack of religious aspirations, or his disinterest in school, or his desires of getting a job. When Tom woke up Richard one morning to ask him the time, an annoyed Richard told him the time. When Tom took issue with the tone of Richard's response, Richard became angry. The anger was heightened by Tom's attempts to beat him. Richard was spoiled in a way and unfortunate in another. He was not of the generation that knew what it was like to be completely controlled by another human being. He was not of the generations later that were even less informed of what it was like to be beaten. He was somewhere in the middle, at a conflict in generations. On one hand, he was expected by the older generation to take his beatings. On the other hand, he did not understand why he should, having never been part of the generation that grew up in slavery or on plantations. Richard is constantly fighting against the expectations of the older generation that he should take his beatings and go to church and behave submissively because he has a fighting instinct in him. He is unaware of just how racist and unfair the real world is until he starts working and interacting with whites. He does not understand why his world cannot be fair among his family. Richard Wright is an idealist, and that is why he gets mad at his Uncle Tom - a man very much stuck in the real world.