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Tuesday, September 25, 2007

1st - Post: Is Richard a "bad" boy? When should behavior be blamed on the person and when should it be blamed on the environment?

Is Richard a "bad" boy? When should behavior be blamed on the person and when should it be blamed on the environment?

According to my experiences, a bad boy does bad things, so yes, in that context, Richard is a bad boy. As for the second question, we have to look at whether he knew he was doing wrong. After all, you couldn't punish a child for mimicing a phrase from TV, when he/she doesnt' even know the meaning. Richard clearly states "anyway, it was all an accident; I had not really intended to set the house afire" (5). Although he does kill the cat, he didn't know how bad it was until his mother told him to bury it. He then pauses, stopped by fear and realization, when the mom says "and while I sleep tonight, do not snatch the breath of life from me..." (14). This shows that he doesn't acknowledge the things he do as "bad" until someone tells him.

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Works Cited

Wright, Richard. Black Boy. Harper & Brothers: New York, 1945.

4 comments:

Ms. Froehlich said...

Please make a separate blog for the class that is a literary blog. Why would I, as the teacher, want to see and read your sarcasm and bad will toward each assignment? Or were you thinking that I wasn't actually going to read them? :)

Terry said...

I'm sorry, but for now it will be a literary blog then. I just wanted this blog to be a good experience.

Trevor said...

Terry,

overall, a good post, but I don't understand the link in your thesis.

What says a bad boy takes bad actions?
Is it not possible for a good boy to take bad actions? Everybody makes mistakes, every Jesus has their Mary Magdalene, every Mohammed has their suicide bombers.
Maybe Richard just had an honest mistake?

Contemplations,
Fo Realz

Remy Sea said...

Whoa, your teacher actually reads your blog? A LITERARY BLOG?
That is AWESOME.
What book are you writing about?