Is Richard a "bad" boy?
When should behavior be blamed on the person and when should it be blamed on the environment?
Richard is young when the book starts, leading him to do rash things and not understand the danger of his actions. When Richard is trying to entertain himself at the beginning of the book, he naturally is attracted to the fire (4). He was not trying to be destructive, he merely was curious, and his curiosity lead him to see if things other than the straw from the broom would burn. I can say that In this case he's really just acting like any other four year old who has not been taught the dangers of fire. The phrase "curiosity killed the cat" is not quite true when it comes to Black Boy. When Richard's father tells him to kill the kitten, one can be sure he did not mean it literally. Though Richard, being young and wanting to spite his father, takes his father's words seriously and uses a piece of rope to strangle the kitten (11). Again, Richard grew up being taught that his father's word was law, so blame cannot really be pushed upon him. Overall, I just think Richard is a product of his environment and he really takes little blame for his actions.
Wow, I wrote a lot... :) Do we have to cite the book?
Wow, I wrote a lot... :) Do we have to cite the book?
7 comments:
hi aliza! Your writing sounds very intelligent and well worded. I liked your thought about curiosity driving all of his wrong-doings
Hey there. I really like your response to this question. I agree with your last statement, "Overall, I just think Richard is a product of his environment and he really takes little blame for his actions."
Yes, yes. I think that this is a good finishing and I agree that Richard's actions are based upon his environemnt.
Yes, please cite examples to back up your strong ideas!
I too really agree with your last statement of Richard's behavior being a product of his enviroment. You had many good points, especially the one about curiousity killing the cat.
Aliza!
Clear, well structured ideas! I like the consisten use of curiosity to discuss whether or not Richard is "bad" or not.
I totally agree with you. And like I said on Maitland's blog. Richard is still adapting based on his surroundings and his parents are supposed to help him do that. But it kind of seems that Richard doesn't have a good relationship with his parents and they just seem to tell him not to do things but they don't help him to understand why he shouldn't do things. Based on Richard's age and you are told not to do something without a reason, you tend to do it to find the reason.
Aliza,
I like your thoughts on how you think he is just curious. I think that curiosity is a part of every human. We feel the need to understand and to explain. But, you can't really rationalize that for the little kitten. Unless of course, you are implying that he was curious to see what a dead cat felt like...
-Ryan
Post a Comment