Why is Wright so angry with his Uncle Tom?

He is really angry with his uncle because when his uncle asks him for the time, Wright says that its eighteen past five and then he says that it might be a little fast or a little slow. His uncle gets really angry with him and says that he is being "sassy." His uncle then wants to beat him. He says that he is going to give him "a whipping." Since Wright did not want to be beat for not doing anything wrong, he gets razors and threatens to cut his uncle if he trys to beat him. Wright is angry because his uncle wants to punish him for no reason. This sadly seems to be a common theme in his family. I would be furious if anyone wanted to punish me for doing something, that I did not do or did not mean to do, especially if it was a family member.