In the first chapter of the story, we see that Richard makes some very poor behavioral choices. However, I do not believe that this makes him a bad boy overall. In Richard's case, his parents and situation are partly at fault for his bad behavior. Richard's poor descision making comes into play when he lights the curtains on fire to see if they will burn, but he ends up burning down the house. Had Richard's mother been supervising him, or perhaps if she would have taught him about the dangers of fire, he might have been more cautious.
Richard does wrong again when he kills an innocent stray kitten. Richard was very nice with the kitten and gave it food until his father came out, woken up from his nap, and yelled at his son to kill the animal. After this, Richard's attitude towards the kitten changes completely and he strangles it with a string. I do not believe Richard is truly violent in nature, but rather he deeply wanted to show his father that he was capable of obeying him.
Later on in the chapter, Richard tries to go to the grocery store to buy food for his family, but he keeps getting beaten up and robbed by a gang of boys. Since his mother will not let him back into the house until he fights off the boys and gets the groceries, Richard is forced to beat up the other children with a stick that his mother gave him. Although this may seem like bad behavior, Richard is simply doing what his mother told him to do. Although Richard's behavior is rather crude at times, I am not of the impression that he is a bad child. Rather, I think that his environment is more responsible for his wrongdoings.
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6 comments:
I agree that when Richard kills the kitten, it is an expression of anger toward his father more than him wanting to actually kill a living thing.
I dont know.. I think that Richard could definately be considered bad. I agree with you that he kills the kitten to spite his father, not out of violence but I think that this "revenge" put Richard on the naughty list. He had the choice to obey his father in the way he was intended to but he could not control his distaste for his father so he killed the kitten.
I also agree that richard isn't a bad boy completely. I thinkl that he is just very curious because he doesn't have any place to play or anything to play with. He is just very curious and not a bad boy. His parts should teach him right from wrong by explaining it to him, not beating him. I believe that he does somethings in rebelion toward them. I also think that the directions of others and his enviroment are to blame for some of his wrong doings, rather than him being a bad apple.
I agree that it is anger towards his father when he kills the kitten. But i dont think that he was trying to show his father he could obey him, it was more that he was trying to get into trouble in a way that would prevent his father from being able to beat him.
I agree with many of your points, but I'm not so sure about the part that says that Richard would have been better behaved if his parents had supervised. I think that his parents respond to behavior- but perhaps its more about how they respond. I think that the way they beat him has a negative effect on his behavior.
Nice Kenzie, very well written. Your post was really clear and easy to understand, and I like your arguments. I definitly agree that Richard can't be held responsible for his actions because of his environment, but what about his age? Doesn't that contribute as well?
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