Bad Behavior: Person vs. Environment

Black Boy
By Richard Wright
Richard is not a bad boy because his intentions are not malicious. When he misbehaves he often does not understand that he even did something wrong. For instance, when Richard tells Granny to kiss his backside, he claims “I had no way of measuring the gravity of my wrong and I assumed that I had done something for which I would never be forgiven” (Wright 42). After speaking rudely to Granny, Richard regrets it, and admits to not even knowing the meaning of his words. Obviously he had no cruel motives. Another example of Richard misbehaving occurs when he accidentally burns half of his house down in the beginning of the story. Richard’s intentions were not to damage the house; all he was “wondering was how the long fluffy white curtains would look if I lit a bunch of straws and held it under them” (Wright 4).
Richard’s motives were not vicious, he was simply curious. Bad behavior should be blamed on the person when the person committing the deed does so with the knowledge that what they are doing is evil or wrong. One example of this occurs when Professor Matthews burns down a white family’s home, with a woman inside it. He says “I had to do it. I couldn’t just leave her there and let somebody find her. They’d know somebody hit her. But if she burns, nobody’ll ever know” (Wright 67). Professor Mathews was fully aware that burning a house down was immoral, but he did it anyway. This behavior should definitely be blamed on the person. Behavior should be blamed on the environment when one is living in unsuitable or terrible conditions. Richard’s fatherless life is one filled with shocking twists, constantly moving around, and never knowing where his next meal will come from. When one’s life is out of balance, their behavior will reflect this discrepancy.