Open Response to Black Boy

      The first time that came to my mind when I thought of this topic is the experiences that shaped Richard’s character base on how he responded to those events. According to the chapters that I have read so far in this book, I would say that Richard had been involved in physical and mental battles throughout his childhood. A few of the physical fights that Richard had been involved in mostly happens to be the ones during the few days that he had transferred into the schools because he was new. An example of that would be during one recess afternoon when a group of boys decides to surround Richard at the school that he transferred into when he was staying with Uncle Clark. After hearing the laughter of a gang of boys, Richard decides to fight back because he thought physical power was required to gain acceptance at the school. In addition, at Jim Hill public school, Richard responded to the challenge imposed by the two brothers in the only way that he knew which is by fighting. Based on what Richard had experienced on every one of his first days at a new school, a gang of boys always tried to intimidate him and he thought, either he resorted to violence as a way of either protecting himself or gaining acceptance when currently, people settle arguments peacefully through conversations.

    There had also been occasions of mental battles between Richard and his relatives that shaped his character. In the case of religious belief in his family, Richard stated that he did not feel God so he did not give his consent to act of baptizing but after seeing how his relatives pressuring him to believe in God and his “paralyzed” mother begging him in front of all the church members, he reluctantly concurred. Consequently, Richard began to view religion as a way for people to conform to the social norm and preserving their pride in front of other Christians instead of dedicating themselves to the teachings of God so he hated Christianity for its lies. Also in many clashes between Richard and his granny, it seems that they always argue over the idea that Richard is a minor so he has no right to make any decision without the consent of his guardians, which is his granny.  Whenever Richard asked his granny if he could get a job, she always responds with the answer no because he was a minor and Saturday is a sacred day to seventh day Adventist such as herself. After seeing how the boys in his school can buy their own food during lunch and wearing first-rate clothing, he began to dream of being like them and wanted to get a job so he could earn his own money but granny never let him. There was even one occasion where Richard decided to leave home so he could get a job but in the end, he stayed because after a short period of arguing with his granny, she finally agreed to let him work on Saturdays. Consequently, these arguments and mental battles with his granny had shaped him to become a character that would result to physical resistance in order to accomplish his goals and a person that would break the cultural norm if he thinks he have the correct reasons to do so.