Well...

Wright admits to the readers that perhaps his problem is that he has begun coping with the white world too late. He says this during the description of a long string of odd jobs that did not work out, many because of the way he was treated as a black boy working in a white world. He could not come to terms with the fact that he had to just accept the way it was, he couldn't just lay down and take it as he was advised. Instead, when treated badly, he did not do what the whites wanted, he would simply move to a new job or fight back. In these chapters, jobs are once again discussed, and Wright again has a very hard time obeying the whims of every white individual he comes across. Since he has not grown up doing this and practicing it, its hard for him to change himself to do this and live in the world the way that people who have in fact grown up working do. He will not conform to the standards of the white world, will not become what they require him to become.