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Richard's Story
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Transcript of Richard's Story
1 CHARACTERS
Lucy, the maid
Richard’s mother
Richard Clayton Harwick
Charlotte Harwick
Mr. Digby, the gardener
Reverend Coldstone
2. Synopsis:
Richard was very young when his father died because of fever.
Before his father passed away, he told Richard to listen to his mother, to take care of
her and his sister, Charlotte. He is the man of the house now.
However, he felt that he was too young to be given this responsibility and it was
unfair of his father to tell to do so.
Things had changed to the worst after the death of his father.
3. The changes after the death of Richard’s father:
( 1) Mr. Coldstone made all the rules in the house Richard hated him and called him
the black black bat. He is cold and unfeeling towards Richard.
(2) His mother gave up her responsibility to be a parent to Richard and Charlotte.
She used her poor health as an excuse not to get involve in the dispute between her
son and Mr. Coldstone.
(3) Richard was send to Mordanger school for 4 years. Here Richard was bullied,
starved, robbed, learnt to be silent/quiet and patient. To keep himself occupied he
carved cows. Even though he had a hard life in school, he felt that living at home was
more like a prison.
(4) Charlotte had a good relationship with Mr. Coldstone. She would laughed at his
jokes, sat at his feet while he read by the fire and he would stroke her hair and pet
her.
Richard made a decision to leave home. He trades his school uniform for old rags
worked as a cabin boy. He changed his name into Dick Digby and talked like a
gardener’s son.
Twice in the next few years his ship came home but he did not return to do his duty
as a son nor as a brother. He just watched his home and his family from afar. He felt
like a trespasser.
He noticed that the house was very quite and dark like a tomb. He saw his faithful
servants, Lucy and Mr. Digby were still there but there were no signs of his mother,
Charlotte nor of Mr. Coldstone.
Richard left his home again and went back to work in a ship. He was promoted from
being a seaman to a midshipman and finally into a Captain.
One day he saw a notice in the newspaper, asking him to contact Riddle & Flook for
he is now the owner of Old Harwick Hall.
When he went back to Old Harwick Hall, he found a letter which was written by
Charlotte, in his tower room. From the letter he learnt that:
(i) his mother had died of heartbreak. His mother had spend a fortune looking for
him.
(ii)On Charlotte’s 16th birthday, she married Charles Devere for his money. He
promised to put notices in the newspaper daily.
(iii)Mr. Coldstone made the family suffered when he saw that money was being
spend in searching for Richard and he was not the owner of Old Harwick Hall.
(iv)Charlotte promised not to make Richard sad nor suffer if he should ever return
home.
(v)However, Charlotte died after giving birth. She had asked Charles to send this
letter to Old Harwick Hall and this letter would explain why the Hall is cold and silent.
Richard regretted his past actions because he had brought so many miseries, pains
and sufferings to his family. He was not sure of his plans whether to:
(a) stay and face the damage that he had done, or (
b) pick up his bag and disappeared again
The novel that I have chosen is Step by Wicked Step by Anne Fine. The character I like
is Richard Clayton Harwick / The events that changed Richard's life are many / The lessons I
have learnt are many /.
Before dying, his father told young Richard to be brave and to take care of his mother and
sister. This was a heavy responsibility for young boy. Then, Richard's mother marries
Reverand Coldstone and Richard hates his stepfather. He feels like a stranger in his home.
His stepfather also hates him and send him away to Mordanger School. Richard hates it
there because he was always' freezing and starving, being bullied and beaten' there.
Richard's life changes after the death of his father, after his mother remarries and after he
went to Mordanger School. People deal with problems differently. Faced with so many
problems, Richard decides to run away to sea and becomes a cabin boy. He feels that his
family would happier without him. It took courage for him to run away. He worked hard and
later became a captain. However, because of his love for his mother and sister, he returned
home twice but he did not see them.
In a nutshell, I like Richard because he was determined, courageous and hardworking. I
learnt a lot from him. These moral values helped Richard cope with his problems. He was
determined to change his unhappy life and so he ran away. If I were Richard, I would have
done the same thing.