The Story of Little Black Sambo was a story that an English woman told her two daughters in India. This story is about a young boy who is given nice clothes, but loses them to tigers that are trying to eat him. He ends up getting his clothes back when the tigers begin to fight over who the “grandest” tiger is. As the tigers fight they melt into butter. Black Jumbo (his father) brings Black Mumbo (his mother) the butter to use to make pancakes, which they all eat and enjoy. The illustrations in this story initially caught my eye. The characters in this story actually looked like human beings instead of the creature-like and monster looking characters in The Coon Alphabet. I am not arguing that these characters were drawn in the most beautiful way or to look the most attractive, but they were clearly human beings. The ending of the story was also a positive ending for the young boy. Even though he goes through a tough journey and almost loses everything he is given, he ends up getting everything back and is safe at home enjoying the pancakes. This is very different from The Coon Alphabet where almost every character has something disastrous happen to them. While I do not believe these characters were shown in the best light, it was a much less disturbing and racist story than some of the others we have read throughout the semester.
Author Archives: Nicole DiLillo
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn
I was looking forward to reading “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in this class. I have read “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” before. While that book is about Tom’s friend Huckleberry, Tom still plays a role in the beginning and the end of the story. I knew Tom was the protagonist in the original story, but I didn’t know much about him, other than what I learned from Huckleberry Finn. Already having a basic idea about his character will make it very interesting to get to learn even more about him.
I knew that Tom was a troublemaker and as soon as the book started, it confirmed my beliefs. The book starts with Aunt Polly searching for him, while he is eating the jam. When she catches him he plays a trick on her to get away. Tom is a mischievous young boy in both books. I was also excited to see characters I met in the second book show up right away. Tom speaks to Jim about his stories, and Jim is a main character in Huck’s adventures. Also, we meet Sid, Tom’s half-brother who Huck pretends to be. Being able to make these connections as I read has made the story much more enjoyable.
Alice in Wonderland
The stories of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland have always been a favorite of mine. I was excited to read Lewis Carroll’s book again from a different perspective now that I am older. One of the first things that surprised me was when Alice was drinking the “drink me” potion, and eating the “eat me” cake. Alice checks the bottle to see if it says poison, and when she sees that it doesn’t she drinks it. When I was younger this didn’t strike me as odd. Now, I think of all the different things that could have happened to Alice other than a change in size. In todays society it does not matter if a drink says poison or not because it could very well be drugged and very dangerous. The fact that Alice drinks and eats what she finds led me to start thinking about how crucial it is that Alice is a child. Any adult in Alice’s position most likely wouldn’t have followed a strange rabbit down a hole in the ground, let alone drink and eat random things they find along the way. A child can sometimes be seen as curious, and naïve. Alice doesn’t imagine this drink as dangerous at all as soon as she sees that it is not marked poison because she is naïve enough to believe that no one would purposely deceive her in such a way. Alice is also a very curious child, but still believes in things many people believe are impossible. Alice’s imagination and curiosity bring her to the amazing world of Wonderland where nothing is impossible. All of her adventures in Wonderland only happen because she doesn’t question whether or not this strange talking rabbit is real or not, but simply, where is he going?
The Truant Boy’s Massive Mistake
A major aspect in a majority of children’s stories is that they have a moral to teach their young audiences, and in my opinion The Truant and The Truant Boy’s End was no exception. I believe that the moral of the story of Henry was that your actions always have consequences, even if they are not apparent at first.
In the first story, a young boy Henry skips school for the first time and lies about where he was. Soon after, he skips school again because he had already gotten away with it once. Even though he felt immensely guilty he did not see the major consequences of skipping school until the second reading. The fact that you don’t see the consequences until much later made me like these stories even more. In real life, sometimes everything seems to be going your way even if you are breaking the rules. It isn’t until much later in your life that you really see the results of your actions. Skipping school led him to misbehave and get kicked out of school, which ruined his future, but also broke his parent’s hearts. This shows how your actions affect more than just you.
I also believe that adults can relate to this story just as much as children, if not more, because most children believe that something like this could never happen to them. They believe that even if they break the rules they would never let it get out of control like Henry did. Many adults have witnessed in their own lives or in the lives of others that one mistake can snowball out of control into much more major offenses. Adults see the truth in these stories and make their lesson have a strong impact on the reader. The moral that your actions always have consequences can impact and teach readers of all ages.
Peter Pan: A Beloved Children’s Story For Adults
Growing up obsessed with Disney movies I have seen Peter Pan more times than I can count, but I never thought of it as an adult themed story until reading The Case of Peter Pan. The more I read the more it made sense. How would a child truly appreciate the fear Peter has of growing up? They would not have faced the same problems that adults have faced and they have not wished they could go back in time and be a child again. That is the premise of Peter Pan; a boy that doesn’t want to grow up. Most children I know wish they were older, and most adults I know wish they could be a child again. An adult could relate to Peter’s feeling more than any child ever could. Not only was the main story point better suited for adults, but also the history of the author is definitely not fit for children. It bothered me when I realized the author was more than just interested in writing a story about young boys, but that he was attracted to little boys. There is clearly so much wrong with that statement in today’s society, and to discover that a story I grew up adoring had such a twisted background history really affected me. Would the incredible story of Peter in Neverland have ever existed if the author didn’t have a strange obsession with children? As a reader we will never know, but this has made me look at all of my favorite childhood stories in a new light and begin to wonder, are any of these really just for children?