Moody Richardson Character Analysis in Little Fires Everywhere

A sophomore in high school, Moody is the first of the Richardson children to befriend Pearl. He develops romantic feelings for her, and attempts to show her the ways in which his family can be false and manipulative in order to raise his own stock with her. He then grows embittered and even cruel when he discovers Pearl’s relationship with his brother Trip.

Moody Richardson Quotes in Little Fires Everywhere

The Little Fires Everywhere quotes below are all either spoken by Moody Richardson or refer to Moody Richardson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

This was how Moody made a decision he would question for the rest of his life. Until now he had said nothing about Pearl or her mother to his family, guarding their friendship like a dragon guards treasure: silently, greedily. Deep down he had the feeling that somehow it would change everything. If he had kept her to himself, perhaps the future might have been quite different. All he had to offer her, he felt, was what his family had to offer, his family itself, and it was this that led him to say, one afternoon in July, “Come over. You can meet my family.”

Related Characters: Moody Richardson (speaker), Pearl Warren

Page Number and Citation: 32-33

Explanation and Analysis:

“Listen to this dumbass question,” [Lexie] groaned, fishing the application from her bag. “Rewrite a famous story from a different perspective. For example, retell The Wizard of Oz from the point of view of the Wicked Witch.”
“How about a fairy tale,” Moody suggested. “‘Cinderella’ from the point of view of the stepsisters.”
“‘Little Red Riding Hood’ as told by the wolf,” Pearl suggested.
“Or ‘Rumplestiltskin,’” Lexie mused. “That miller’s daughter cheated him. He did all that spinning for her and she said she’d give him her baby and then she reneged. Maybe she’s the villain here. She shouldn’t have agreed to give up her baby in the first place, if she didn’t want to.”
“Well,” Mia put in suddenly. “Maybe she didn’t know what she was giving up. Maybe once she saw the baby she changed her mind. Don’t be too quick to judge.”

Related Characters: Mia Warren (speaker), Pearl Warren (speaker), Moody Richardson (speaker), Lexie Richardson (speaker), Bebe Chow, Linda and Mark McCullough

Page Number and Citation: 54-55

Explanation and Analysis:

“You see now,” Moody said. “What they’re like.”

Related Characters: Moody Richardson (speaker), Pearl Warren, Trip Richardson, Lexie Richardson

Page Number and Citation: 64

Explanation and Analysis:

Moody Richardson Character Timeline in Little Fires Everywhere

The timeline below shows where the character Moody Richardson appears in Little Fires Everywhere. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Identity: Heritage, Assimilation, and Transience Theme Icon

...by the time he drove home and noticed the flames Lexie and their younger brother Moody were already there. The three siblings sit on the roof of Trip’s car in descending... (full context)

...adults” will probably pay for. Trip laughs, thinking about the “nutcase” Izzy starting fires, and Moody wonders why his siblings are so sure Izzy is responsible. Trip says everyone else is... (full context)

Moody then suggests it could have been an accident, but Lexie argues that “the firemen said... (full context)

Moody Richardson overhears his parents discussing whether or not Mia will pay the rent on time... (full context)

Moody is intrigued by his mother’s mention of a young girl living in the rental house,... (full context)

Moody helps Pearl bring the bed frame inside and watches as she assembles it. Mia brings... (full context)

As Pearl recounts her and her mother’s itinerant lives and all the places they’ve lived, Moody can’t “see all that she [is] remembering.” Pearl and Mia have lived in dilapidated apartments... (full context)

Moody has the sudden realization that he is infatuated with Pearl, and that his life has... (full context)

“The next few weeks” are, for Moody, “a series of tomorrows” as Pearl and Moody develop a deep friendship. Moody shows her... (full context)

As Pearl learns more about Moody and Shaker Heights, Moody also learns more about Pearl and Mia and their transient lifestyle,... (full context)

Mia occasionally is able to sell her work, which Moody himself describes as “startling,” with the help of a New York City gallerist, Anita Rees.... (full context)

Pearl continues describing to Moody “what [her and Mia’s] life on the road is like.” Moody thinks that their existence... (full context)

...first she is happy and grateful to see Pearl making friends, especially with the sensitive Moody. Mia feels guilty for having made Pearl live according to her own desires and decides... (full context)

At school, Pearl and Moody are in almost all of the same classes. Moody guides Pearl through her first couple... (full context)

...her delight and embarrassment. He compliments her outfits, telling her she looks “nice,” to which Moody protests that Pearl “always looks nice.” Moody, afraid to be outshone by his brother, uses... (full context)

...house, and though Pearl is reluctant to have visitors, she agrees. Lexie drives Pearl and Moody to the house on Winslow. When they arrive Mia fights the urge to refuse them,... (full context)

...which asks for students to rewrite a famous story from an alternate point of view. Moody suggests rewriting a fairytale. Lexie thinks that it might be interesting to rewrite Rumpelstiltskin, noting... (full context)

Pearl offers to write Lexie’s application essay for her, and Lexie is overjoyed. Moody seems irritated by what he perceives to be his sister taking advantage of Pearl. In... (full context)

Pearl completes Lexie’s essay within a week. Both Mia and Moody are “uneasy” that Lexie has wrangled this favor from Pearl. Pearl starts dressing in Lexie’s... (full context)

Izzy and Moody are not invited to the party, as they’re underclassmen. Moody is disappointed that Pearl will... (full context)

...any sign of Trip. When she’s unable to find him, Lexie, or Serena, she calls Moody from the Perry house’s landline. (full context)

Shortly thereafter, Moody arrives in his mother’s car to pick Pearl up. He is disappointed in her behavior,... (full context)

...that everything Lexie does from this point on is “tinged with sex.” For now, though, Moody tells Pearl that she smells a little bit like smoke and alcohol, and offers her... (full context)

...living in the suburban Midwest,” reveals her plan to toilet paper Mrs. Peters’s house. However, Moody, Pearl, and Mia advise against it. Mia recalls a student at her own high school... (full context)

Moody, Pearl, and Izzy “immobilize” their high school in under ten minutes by inserting toothpicks into... (full context)

...after school to work as Mia’s photography assistant. Meanwhile, Pearl does the “exact reverse,” accompanying Moody home to lounge in the living room with him, Lexie, and Trip. Pearl is “grateful”... (full context)

On a class trip to an art museum in the middle of November, Pearl and Moody step into a special exhibit called “Madonna and Child.” There they encounter a black-and-white photograph... (full context)

Lexie drives Pearl and Moody back to the Richardson house, where Mia is preparing the Richardsons’ dinner while Izzy watches.... (full context)

...she wanted to have a large family, and he agreed. After having Lexie, Trip, and Moody, Mrs. Richardson pushed for one more, and Mr. Richardson again agreed. After a difficult pregnancy... (full context)

...the Richardsons are invited to attend a birthday party thrown by their friends, the McCulloughs. Moody and Izzy want to invite Pearl, but Mrs. Richardson refuses, telling them that “Pearl is... (full context)

Moody and Trip remark on Lexie’s obsession with the baby. Moody teases Trip about the “dozens... (full context)

...the case. Mrs. Richardson and Lexie side with the McCulloughs, as does Mr. Richardson, while Moody and Izzy, inspired by Pearl and Mia, take Bebe’s side. Lexie and Brian also argue... (full context)

...over her afternoon and what her and Trip’s status might be. The following morning, when Moody arrives at the house on Winslow to walk her to school, she cannot meet his... (full context)

...and afraid to run into Trip in the hallway. After school, Pearl tells Lexie and Moody that she isn’t feeling well, and goes home instead of to the Richardson’s house—she doesn’t... (full context)

Once at Tim Michaels’s house, Pearl feels guilty, remembering that Moody will be waiting for her outside the science wing at school for their walk home... (full context)

...Lexie, she knows that the whole school would know “within a week.” Pearl thinks of Moody, and knows there is no way she could ever tell him—she is aware of his... (full context)

...has shifted—she feels a great deal of sympathy for Bebe now. Izzy is suspicious, and Moody describes the case as one which will tear families “all over Cleveland apart.” (full context)

...one afternoon while her mother works an extra shift at the Lucky Palace. Pearl tells Moody that she will be “helping her mother” with a project all afternoon, and she and... (full context)

Back at school, Tim Michaels confronts Moody, asking if he knows who his older brother’s “mystery girl” is. Moody returns home and... (full context)

Pearl, later that afternoon, goes to the Richardsons’ to talk to Moody. She attempts to apologize, but Moody is acidic and cruel, and tells Pearl that she... (full context)

...think of anything else throughout her lunch with Elizabeth. Mrs. Richardson believes that Pearl and Moody have been sleeping together, and, enraged that all of this could have happened “right under... (full context)

Lexie and Moody learn the news from their mother, who leaves a message on the answering machine telling... (full context)

...volumes.” Mrs. Richardson arrives home later that evening, and right away heads upstairs to confront Moody. When she begins questioning him about Pearl and “the baby,” Moody is at first confused,... (full context)

...for a movie after that. She is sad about the end of her friendship with Moody, and wonders if things between them will ever return to “normal.” Just then the classroom... (full context)

...to reach her by phone the night before. She wants to warn Pearl of what Moody has said about her, and of the fact that Mrs. Richardson knows about her and... (full context)

When Izzy returns home, she finds the house empty. Moody and Trip were home earlier; they fought over Pearl verbally and then physically. Trip left... (full context)

Izzy tells Moody that she knows Pearl didn’t have an abortion. She tries to think of whether Pearl... (full context)

...gone to the office, Lexie is at Serena’s, Trip has gone to play basketball, and Moody has gone to Pearl’s house to apologize. Izzy believes her mother is at the rec... (full context)

...through with holes—small “curling leaves” have started to grow, “soft[ness] emerging from the hard shell.” Moody’s photo features origami birds made from the torn pages of Pearl’s notebook. Mr. Richardson’s features... (full context)