In my opinion, I do not see Richard’s negative behavior as his intention for ‘attention’. Although his dad abandoned his family he was too young to understand the reason of his whereabouts. He has no dependence on his brother whatsoever, as he is only mentioned a few times through the first chapter of his childhood. Ultimately, I blame his mother for Richard’s inappropriate actions.
I understand where his mother is going towards underneath her harsh care of Richard. However I do not think it fits for a toddler at the age of 4. Instead of beating up her child 24/7 she should at least once show a warm affection towards her son whenever he did something bad. At the beginning when he burned the house on fire, most children would be afraid of such sight or cause. Instead, Richard only thought about his beating of his mother after, which was different from an average child. Also the incident with the gang boys and the stick was not what she should’ve taught to a four to five year old boy. He learned to use violence, and later alcohol as his mom went out to work. If he was taught with warmth and care, I believe Richard wouldn’t respond so negatively to the world. This specifically showed when he developed a “deep hate” towards his father wanting to prove him wrong when he ordered Richard to kill the kitten. Although Richard knew better, he wanted to act in the opposite way to show his dad.
In conclusion, Richard wasn’t alone in his cravings for attention. He only responded to the vindictive nature of his environment.
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