Uncle Tom

Richard is extremely distraught by the circumstances that led to him almost being beaten by his Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom had recently reentered his life to impose upon his grandmother’s hospitality, and he decided it was his responsibility to teach Richard the lesson he had never been taught by beating him. This explains one of the reasons Richard was so angry at Uncle Tom because he came into the house he had been living in for multiple years and decided to assume his authority to beat Richard. Another reason that Richard was mad was because he did not actually commit a crime that warranted being beaten. While he does accept that there are times where it is acceptable to be beaten, like when you burn down a house, the alleged sass that he showed his Uncle Tom was incredibly insufficient. Richard acted as he had in the past to defend himself from a beating where many people would simply submit. He learned early in life his relationship with adults and how to exploit and overcome it in order to preserve his own wellbeing.