Post by sugarmonkey on Nov 1, 2007 6:30:59 GMT -5
I've been thinking about how I feel about Richard and although he was probably too strict (and I understand the reasons for that) he probably wasn't as bad a bunch of 13 year old girls thought he was.
Here is what I ende up with. He controled his daughters clothing, hair and phone, etc. That's what a good parents does. But, he did it to an extreme extent because he was worried what people thought about his ability raise a girl on this own.
MA became extremely shy as a result of her fathers over controlling. By this I mean she picked up on his worry of what others thought of him (that is the essential ingredient to shyness, fear of negative judgement or negative critcism).
But, MA never stood up to her father and told him she wanted his to loosen up, she felt she had to prove herself to him before she could do that. Maybe she had to prove it to herself as well? Maybe that experience with Jenny P. boosted her confidence and allowed her to talk to her father with more self-assurance. As soon as she had a talk with her father he lightened up. That's all it took. Why didn't MA do it sooner? For one she didn't have an experience to point to that "proved" her maturity, for another her fathers strictness probably scared her into keeping quite about it until she gained some confidence/assertiveness.
Overall Richard seemed really receptive to MA's feelings and I think he was a good parent, just maybe a little to far removed from relationships with people. As far as the inconsistency of he and MA being so close when she was very young (in MA's Portrait) and then being so distant in the first four book of the original series, I can see how puberty would cause a kid and a parent to start to distance themselves from each other, especially if that parent was a very uptight man and was probably uncomfortable with the changes a girl goes through during puberty.
Come to think of it "uptight" describes Richard better than strict.
And then there's Kristy's influence on MA. My feeling is that Kristy was so dominating that instead of inspiring MA to be more assertive she just dominated her. Kristy leads MA into situations that MA is scared of therefore MA doesn't learn to do it on her own (of course she starts doing this later in the series).
I hope this all makes sense. It's early and I've go to get ready for work.
Here is what I ende up with. He controled his daughters clothing, hair and phone, etc. That's what a good parents does. But, he did it to an extreme extent because he was worried what people thought about his ability raise a girl on this own.
MA became extremely shy as a result of her fathers over controlling. By this I mean she picked up on his worry of what others thought of him (that is the essential ingredient to shyness, fear of negative judgement or negative critcism).
But, MA never stood up to her father and told him she wanted his to loosen up, she felt she had to prove herself to him before she could do that. Maybe she had to prove it to herself as well? Maybe that experience with Jenny P. boosted her confidence and allowed her to talk to her father with more self-assurance. As soon as she had a talk with her father he lightened up. That's all it took. Why didn't MA do it sooner? For one she didn't have an experience to point to that "proved" her maturity, for another her fathers strictness probably scared her into keeping quite about it until she gained some confidence/assertiveness.
Overall Richard seemed really receptive to MA's feelings and I think he was a good parent, just maybe a little to far removed from relationships with people. As far as the inconsistency of he and MA being so close when she was very young (in MA's Portrait) and then being so distant in the first four book of the original series, I can see how puberty would cause a kid and a parent to start to distance themselves from each other, especially if that parent was a very uptight man and was probably uncomfortable with the changes a girl goes through during puberty.
Come to think of it "uptight" describes Richard better than strict.
And then there's Kristy's influence on MA. My feeling is that Kristy was so dominating that instead of inspiring MA to be more assertive she just dominated her. Kristy leads MA into situations that MA is scared of therefore MA doesn't learn to do it on her own (of course she starts doing this later in the series).
I hope this all makes sense. It's early and I've go to get ready for work.
Richard is cool in my book. 
