Little Fires Everywhere

by

Celeste Ng

Mr. Richardson / Bill Character Analysis

Mrs. Richardson’s husband and the Richardson children’s father. He and his wife met in college, and, though he was not from Ohio, he was easily convinced to move to his wife’s hometown, Shaker Heights. He is often on the fringes of his family’s day-to-day life, though he has a tender relationship with Izzy; he is a defense attorney who works in the city. He agrees to assist the McCulloughs in their legal case against Bebe Chow, but eventually becomes skeptical of their claim to May Ling and hyperaware of the blurred lines between right and wrong when it comes to the case and to parenting in general.

Mr. Richardson / Bill Quotes in Little Fires Everywhere

The Little Fires Everywhere quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Richardson / Bill or refer to Mr. Richardson / Bill. 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:
Order vs. Disruption Theme Icon
).
Chapter 16 Quotes

It came, over and over, down to this: What made someone a mother? Was it biology alone, or was it love?

Related Characters: Mr. Richardson / Bill, Bebe Chow, Mirabelle McCullough / May Ling Chow, Linda and Mark McCullough, Ed Lim
Page Number: 258
Explanation and Analysis:

For [Mrs. Richardson] it was simple: Bebe Chow had been a poor mother; Linda McCullough had been a good one. One had followed the rules, and one had not. But the problem with rules, [Mr. Richardson] reflected, was that they implied a right way and a wrong way to do things. When, in fact, most of the time there were simply ways, none of them quite wrong or quite right, and nothing to tell you for sure which side of the line you stood on.

Related Characters: Mrs. Richardson / Elena, Mr. Richardson / Bill, Bebe Chow, Mirabelle McCullough / May Ling Chow, Linda and Mark McCullough
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Richardson / Bill Quotes in Little Fires Everywhere

The Little Fires Everywhere quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Richardson / Bill or refer to Mr. Richardson / Bill. 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:
Order vs. Disruption Theme Icon
).
Chapter 16 Quotes

It came, over and over, down to this: What made someone a mother? Was it biology alone, or was it love?

Related Characters: Mr. Richardson / Bill, Bebe Chow, Mirabelle McCullough / May Ling Chow, Linda and Mark McCullough, Ed Lim
Page Number: 258
Explanation and Analysis:

For [Mrs. Richardson] it was simple: Bebe Chow had been a poor mother; Linda McCullough had been a good one. One had followed the rules, and one had not. But the problem with rules, [Mr. Richardson] reflected, was that they implied a right way and a wrong way to do things. When, in fact, most of the time there were simply ways, none of them quite wrong or quite right, and nothing to tell you for sure which side of the line you stood on.

Related Characters: Mrs. Richardson / Elena, Mr. Richardson / Bill, Bebe Chow, Mirabelle McCullough / May Ling Chow, Linda and Mark McCullough
Page Number: 269
Explanation and Analysis: