I personally do not believe that Richard is a bad boy at heart. Richard commits many actions that would appear bad and receives many well-deserved punishments for them, but Richard does not do those things to be bad. He does them because of his extreme curiosity and his lack of knowledge. Richard is a very good boy at heart, but he is just a naïve child and does not think about the consequences of his actions before he does them. For instance, when Richard set the curtains on fire, he didn’t know or understand the outcome it would bring. In his mind all he was thinking about was whether or not the curtains would look as cool as the broom when it burned. He didn’t understand the concept of how much damage fire can do and how flammable the curtains were, he was only four years old, and how could he have understood that? Also, being of that young an age and wanting to play outside, but being forced to stay inside caused him to desperately find a way to entertain himself and the fire was all he could find. He merely did it out of boredom and curiosity. Also, when he tells his grandmother to kiss his butt, he doesn’t understand what he said or what it meant (41). He cannot even remember where or when he heard those words he just blurted them out at the wrong time. He was not trying to insult his grandmother in any way, but he ended up in a terrible situation because of it.
The reason I say that his beatings were well-deserved, is because he should be punished for doing bad things so that he can learn what is right and what is wrong. But this does not mean he is a bad child.
In this case I definitely believe that Richard’s environment should be blamed for many of his actions. During the time after Richard’s father left and he began spending time in bars getting drunk (21), it was during the times when his mother was gone working and he was left all alone to wander the streets. He was obviously attracted to the saloons because it was like a forbidden fruit because it was a place only for adults. Also, the drunk people around him made it seem like he was okay that he drank and allowed him to do it. It was not his fault that he was pulled into terrible habit a young age because the adults around him were saying it was okay and he was having fun.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I agree with your comments, and especially like the way you describe his bad actions as unknowing. The book very clearly illustrates Richards’ innocent approach to the mistakes he makes in his childhood in the memoir style. The author is able to look back on their former self with the knowledge they now possess about that period of their life, which can give important insights to each situation.
Amanda,
I liked your comments, but I disagree how you said that the reason that Richard was getting into trouble was because he was just curious. Getting into a fight is not being curious, and maybe he doesn't know better, but I don't think it is because of curiosity. I do agree with how you said that it was because of his environment. I believe that because he has noone watching over him he gets into a lot of trouble.
Amanda,I thought your post was well thought out. It is obvious you spent time and effort into it. I mostly agree with your response, and how Richard's environment is mostly to blame for his actions. However, I disagree with your statement that Richard didn't know drinking was bad. You just said in the sentence befor that drinking was a "forbidden fruit" and only adults could have it. You are kind of contradicting yourself.
Amanda, nice lengthy post with lots of examples. I agree with you that Richard lacks a good example in his disadvantaged life and that it's his environment that shapes his bad side. I also think that it was his good conscience and childhood innocence that kept Richard from actually becoming a "bad" boy. He consistently learned from his mistakes too, which is a responsible thing to do. Great job.
Amanda~ I agree with your opinions about him only being four years old and being curious. Richard was never allowed to explore for himself and when he did, his parents would beat him. I also agree with it being his fault when he set the curtains on fire, but I think some of the situations he is put in are caused by the environment he is surrounded by. I agree with his parents punishing him to make him understand, but not to the extent that they have been doing previously. I think that Richard should not get beaten for every position he is caught in because he should not grow up learning to be violent after his parents beat him (he might follow their example).
Post a Comment