Richard's Hunger

What types of things does Richard "hunger" for

and what are the effects (positive and negative) of hunger?

I believe that Richard is "hungry" for information and knowledge. He is hungry for stories and literature. Richard longs to know what is going on in the outside world. When the school teacher Ella reads Richard Bluebeard and His Seven Wives, Richard becomes so excited and craves the stories, "The tale made the world around me be, throb, live" (Wright 39). Once Richard discovers books he suddenly becomes alive, and can't seem to get enough of them. Richard is a naturally curious boy, and this new information captivates him and makes him feel motivated towards something.
There are many positive effects of Richard's hunger for knowledge. This hunger effects him positively and puts him in a determined mind set. The hunger to know and learn more motivates Richard to be successful, and he starts to strive towards goals. After hearing Ella's story Richard becomes driven, "I hungered for the sharp, frightening, breathtaking, almost painful excitement that the story had given me, and I vowed that as soon as I was old enough I would buy all the novels there were and read them to feed that thirst for violence that was in me, for intrigue, for plotting, for secrecy, for bloody murders" (Wright 40). He vows to himself that he would buy as many novels as he could.
Richard's motivation and determination to consume all the knowledge he has is amazing, but there are some negative aspects of his hunger. In Richard's family life, books like the ones he craves are forbidden in his household.His family (Grandmother especially) finds stories like these the "Devil's work" (Wright 39). Richard gets punished for desiring this books and the school teacher is forced to leave by Granny (39). Richard also ends up without knowing it selling magazines for the KKK because he wanted to read the newspaper's magazine supplement. Richard's neighbor informs him that he is selling papers for a group whose goal is to kill him, "'Well, the paper you're selling preaches the Ku Klux Klan doctrines,' he said" (Wright 131). If Richard had not been warned about the papers, his hunger could have potentially put him into danger.
Overall, I think Richard's hunger for knowledge is positive and will encourage him to strive to be successful, but Richard has to be careful and not let his hunger overwhelm him and get him into trouble.

Richard Wright- Bad Boy?

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

I would call Richard a "bad" boy because he lets his curiosity get the better of him, and he uses poor judgment when faced with temptation. However, I do not blame him entirely for being "bad". Lack of common sense adds to Richard's horrible actions. When Richard decides to light his curtains on fire, he ends up burning the whole home down and clearly lacks any sort of wise thought process, "My idea was growing, blooming. Now I was wondering just how the long fluffy white curtains would look if I lit a bunch of straws and held it under them. Would I try it? Sure" (4). Richard clearly was not thinking during this time. During the first two chapters, Richard proceeds to kill a cat, become a young drunk and loiter at the local saloon, repeat obscenities to his family and public, and mainly disobey his mother's orders. I would consider these all "bad" things, but again, I do not blame Richard for being a "bad" boy.
In this case, I would mainly blame Richard's obscene behavior on the environment he lives in. Richard has grown up in rough parts of town, and has also been moved frequently. He also has had little education and structure in his life. Due to the lack of education and order in Richard's life, his boredom leads to his nasty behavior. I think Richard also acts so poorly because he feels the need to rebel against the cruel and abusive authority figures in his family. His mother, grandmother, and other family figures scold and beat him so often that it is no longer effective. When Richard and his brother and taking baths, they blatantly ignore their grandmother's orders and continue to disobey her, "'Stop that foolishness and wash yourselves!' 'Yes, ma'am,' we answered automatically and proceeded with our playing"(41). Behavior should be blamed on the environment if it contains poor models that people grow up with believing is acceptable. If this environment lacks any effective discipline, structure, or model behavior, then most likely the children living in it may be corrupt. Behavior should be blamed on the person if they mentally choose to be horrible and are horrible with a purpose. If they choose to take the negative path of actions and are aware of the consequences, then I believe that person should be blamed for being "bad".

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Numero Uno

Hello there. It's Amanda ... posting on my first blog post ever. Welcome to my blog. My background template is snapshot in case anyone is wondering. I hope you all enjoy my special posts and comments. I hope someone will find this mildly entertaining and worth your time! Until next time...

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