Memoirs

People write memoirs for a few reasons. One is to help others learn from their own life experiences. After many years of living, people have gone through many tough times, and have most likely learned from many mistakes. By writing a memoir, people can describe in detail how they have went through those times, and how they learned from their past. Then readers can learn from other people, and hopefully they will not make similar mistakes, or if they do, they will know how to deal with them.

Another reason why people write memoirs is simply to tell history from a certain point of view. For example, in Black Boy, Richard tells his story about dealing with the segregation. Any history book will tell the reader plenty of information about how miserable the lives of African Americans were before segregation was banned. However, by reading a memoir, people can relate personally to those involved, and will understand the content to a greater extent. People write memoirs because they want people to understand how their life in particular was affected by a certain event. They want others to hear their story, and be able to see an event from a stance other than the viewpoint they were introduced to in history books.