In the Go-Between, Hartley presents the world of children and childhood through the first person narrative (from the viewpoints of the young and old Leo), Leo’s vivid imagination, the themes of growing up and self-awareness, the conflict between the child and adult world, and the portrayal of Leo as a school boy. Firstly, the writer portrays the world of children through the first person narrative which encapsulates young Leo’s fresh, spontaneous optimism and hope towards the dawning of a new era, ‘My dreams for the twentieth century, and for myself, were coming true’(Chapter 1. p. 28). Therefore, this device allows the reader direct access to the intensity yet simplicity of a child’s point of view and enhances Leo’s personal feelings of pure elation. Furthermore, we can see that Leo possesses a innocent sense of expectation as he is conveyed as embarking upon his journey in life with the utmost confidence, ‘For the first time I felt that I was someone’ (Chapter 1. p.25). Subsequently, this creates a child-like tone of adventure as Leo is described as a somewhat inexperienced and vivacious boy. In addition, the narrator sums up his younger self in his own words: ‘resilience…resourcefulness…adaptability…instinctive sympathy with human nature…those were the qualities I possessed in 1900’ (Prologue. p. 19). Thus, adolescent Leo is open to life and all its possibilities for success. However, the reader can see that the novelist is setting the scene for Leo’s expectations to be thwarted and even the older Leo recognizes that he was soaring too high, as illustrated by the reference to the legend of Icarus, ‘You flew too near to the sun, and you were scorched’ (Chapter 1. p. 28). It can also be seen that the older Leo is prep... ... middle of paper ... ...sual atmosphere created by the heat contributes to Leo’s feeling that the world in his imagination has more reality than everyday life. In addition, the weather acts as a metaphor for events which Leo cannot control, ‘It all began with the weather defying me’ (Chapter 1. p. 39) and comes to symbolize the increasing emotional intensity of a young child’s involvement in the adult world, ‘All the heat of the afternoon seemed to be concentrated where we stood…It made me uncomfortable’ (Chapter 7. P. 82-83). This creates a mood of intense anticipation and suspense as the heat reflects how events are escalating out of control. Furthermore, the writer portrays the world of children through Leo and Marcus’s daily ritual of visiting the thermometer to track record temperatures as it adds to the mood of innocent expectation and conveys the simplicity of childhood pursuits.
Firstly, Flynn uses imagery to portray the theme of youth’s idealism. For example, he writes “where they can be heroes. You can run/ back into a burning house, sinking ship”(15-16). It would be nearly impossible for someone, let a lone a ten year old child, to save all of the passengers on a sinking ship. One can imagine the immense ability required to overcome the violent waves and the great distances required to swim in order to save all these people on the ship. However, this is unfathomable to a child.
In the “Prodigal”, the boy whom the speaker is addressing to yearns to accomplish his own goals by leaving his hometown behind and entering the urbanized world that is filled with endless opportunities and possibilities, including “[becoming] an artist of the provocative gesture”, “wanting the world and return carrying it”, and “[reclaiming] Main Street in a limo.” However, despite all these ambitious opportunities the boy wishes to pursue, he is ultimately unable to alter the perception of others who are the most familiar with his character. Rather, the people who are the most acquainted with the boy will perceive him with the same view as in the past. The thought of a newly changed boy that embraced a completely different identity while accomplishing several achievements, is incapable of affecting their perception of the past young boy from the county. This is illustrated when the speaker describes that even if the boy “stood in the field [he’d] disappear” and was still “aiming [his] eyes down the road” of opportunity, in the eyes of people who are most familiar with him, they will be unable to acknowledge this significantly changed individual. In complete contrast with those who are most familiar with him are others who are unfamiliar with his past. These individuals, whom the boy must have encountered while achieving his accomplishments,
...ren who will soon become teenagers. In spite of Teddy’s creativity and imagination, his uncle and aunt blame him for being absent from the real world. Teddy has to mentally grow up in order to meet the expectation from his society. In addition, he is in conflict with his uncle who makes fun of his paper dolls. Finally, he is in conflict with himself since, at the end of the story, he cries after he has torn his imaginary city into shreds. In our society, childhood ends about the same way as described in The Fall of a City. In the beginning, the child would complain about the change of their home schedule, and gradually the kid starts to adapt to his new daily activities. It is necessary that parents put pressure on their child so the youngster gradually becomes mature in order to match social standards.
Children have often been viewed as innocent and innocent may be a nicer way to call children naive. Since children’s lives are so worry free they lack the knowledge of how to transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. Their lack of knowledge may be a large part of their difficulties growing up, which could be a few rough years for many. In books like the boy in the striped pajamas the story is told from the point of view of a little boy, this way we get a full view of how innocent he is. In this book the writer shows the reader first hand how a child viewed the holocaust and how his innocence cost him his life. Then in books like the perks of being a wallflower Charlie is a teen whom is struggling with the transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. In this book the writer gives a first hand look at how difficult it can be to transition into an adolescent. Charlie has many difficulties in this book; he is in search of his identity and how to fit in.
Lyons, Oliver, and Bill Bonnie. "An Interview with Tobias Wolff." Contemporary Literature. 31.1 (1990): 1-16. Web. 12 Feb. 2012.
At the top of the ladder sits the father, a high and mighty figure, like that of King Arthur. He towers above his family as if a king on a throne, looking down upon his royal subjects. He is the sole ruler and therefore must set himself apart from them. This is reflected in the position of his arms, which he keeps close to his body, like the independent child who refuses to hold his mother's hand when crossing the street. Even his manner of dress holds a stately aura. The yellow hat upon his head is golden and pointy similar to that of a royal crown worn by the great rulers of the past. The fringes on his costume surround his neck like the golden mane of a fearsome lion, king of the jungle. The leotard, itself, is an almost fleshy tone like soft peaches in the summer. It reminds one of an acrobat in costume during his death-defying tightrope act, high above the audience. His shoes, however, are thin and black like a bat in the night, contrasting sharply with the rest of the colors of the painting. It were as if they are demanding the well-deserved attention they have earned in all the effort it had taken them to get to the top. Yet, he looks down at the child with great hope, as would a king to his newborn successor, who would follow in his footsteps, performing great deeds to society and loved by all his people. It is also a look of unconditional love that cannot dissipate even if the child were to accidentally burn their house down or fall on top of him, breaking a few ribs in the process.
In John Connolly’s novel, The Book of Lost Things, he writes, “for in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be”. Does one’s childhood truly have an effect on the person one someday becomes? In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle and Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, this question is tackled through the recounting of Jeannette and Amir’s childhoods from the perspectives of their older, more developed selves. In the novels, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the relationships Jeannette and Amir have with their fathers while growing up, and the effects that these relations have on the people they each become. The environment to which they are both exposed as children is also described, and proves to have an influence on the characteristics of Jeannette and Amir’s adult personalities. Finally, through the journeys of other people in Jeannette and Amir’s lives, it is demonstrated that the sustainment of traumatic experiences as a child also has a large influence on the development of one’s character while become an adult. Therefore, through the analysis of the effects of these factors on various characters’ development, it is proven that the experiences and realities that one endures as a child ultimately shape one’s identity in the future.
The prominent theme that was exhibited throughout the novel was inhumanity. The quote "Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky." This quotation shows how a powerful authority had all the control to carry out disturbing actions and no common ma...
Peter Pan never wanted to grow up, for he always wanted to be a boy and have fun. On the other hand, the general argument made by author, Anne Sexton, in her poem, “The Fury of Overshoes,” is that childhood is most appreciated when a person must be independent. A university student finds that he can relate to the speaker. The high school student, still a child himself, will feel the same as the speaker in her youth. A college student and a high school student reading this poem would conclude this poem with different feelings.
Piaget, J. 1962. Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. New York: Norton White, J., 2002. The child's mind. London: Routledge/Falmer.
... growth where a child is forced to start looking for solutions for everything that is wrong instead of simply being a child. This analysis prove that children have their own way of seeing things and interpreting them. Their defense mechanisms allow them to live through hard and difficult times by creating jokes and games out of the real situation. This enables then to escape the difficulties of the real world.
Adolescence. The instinctive phenomenon that delivers many suspicions and guilty pleasures that haunt the young mind of adolescent until the coming of age. However, the absence of adolescence delivers the vacancy of knowledgeable wings that fly up to moral intelligence. It epitomizes the meager amount of light that provides sight to the step directly in front of one’s self, rather than light radiating upon the rest of the staircase; the unknown world of adulthood. Carlo Collodi, author of The Adventures of Pinocchio, delivers the perfect collaboration of this ethical message on adolescence and an accurate propinquity to the lives of children. Pinocchio, the wooden puppet and nose-growing misfit, becomes easily astray from his morals and encounters many disastrous events. Geppetto, hopeless father of Pinocchio, makes many sacrifices for Pinocchio, but Pinocchio displays the natural attribute of an adolescent which is self-centeredness. This particular behavior of the adolescent Pinocchio, stimulates him into pleasurable temptation and carefree fun. Colloid’s characterization, epic symbolism, metaphysical aspects, and an immense deal of archetypes all introduce the portrayal of proto-adulthood, structured education versus individualism, and humanity growing out of foolishness. Collodi succeeds in pointing out that disobedience and pleasure-seeking behavior lead to evil and unhappiness. Thereon the natural attribute of adolescence, narcissism, must be outgrown to avoid the declivity to corruptive integrity. Overall, Collodi rehashes the emblematic lesson of child obedience by approaching it in a metaphysical manner: children need proper guidance to avoid egocentricity and live in proto- adulthood.
This story is told through the use of many different techniques of writing, including, one of the most emotionally gripping, personification. The use of a line such as “When she was just a girl she expected the world but it flew away from her reach” (lines 1-2) gives the listener a childlike view on the situation, which, allows the listener to relate to and, subsequently, connect themselves to the song’s protagonist. Personification is also used in other
which is the second theme of the story. He quickly grew from an innocent, young boy into a confused, disillusioned adolescent. The boy arrived ...
“You can avoid reality, but you can not avoid the consequences of avoiding the reality” (Ayn Rand, 1905-1982). In Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid, the air-conditioning is one of the most significant details in the novel that represents some of the themes that Hamid wants to emphasize. Besides jewelry, enormous house, and high-priced car air-conditioner is one of the elements that distinguish wealth from poverty. More than that, one of the reasons why Mumtaz falls in love with Daru relates to the air-conditioner. That air conditioner not only produces cool air but also generates the hot air is compelling because it represents some dualities that exist in the novel. Also, despite making people feel more comfortable during hot weather, air conditioner is artificial, which is similar to some relationships as well as some perspectives in Moth Smoke.