In the article “The Case of Peter Pan”, disturbing details on how classic “children” novels are written are revealed. When you think of stories like Peter Pan, you generally think of the Walt Disney, happy ending version. Few people know the true original story, and those who do know it definitely question how it ever became a children’s classic. As discussed in class, novels such as Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland serve as outlets to their perverse writers. These writers were obsessed with children and the idea of childhood. Never never land is a phantasmic world where children stay children — however, the price to pay is that they can never leave. During class discussion, a very important point was brought up: children don’t want to stay children, they want to grow up, sometimes a little too fast. It is the adults that wish to go back to childhood and stay young forever. The novel was not even originally intended to be a children’s novel and had to be edited so it could be deemed “appropriate” for children. This brings us to the realization that most children’s books are not really intended with the child in mind and are instead sort of forced upon them. It really beckons the question of what children’s literature really is, and I hope that we will have a better understanding of it as we go forth in the class.
Daily Archives: 13 Sep ’14
“The Truant” & “The Truant Boy’s End”
It can be argued that all facets of our culture are tools of propaganda. Much like advertising, literature, music, fashion, etc. not only reflects the current cultural values and beliefs, but simultaneously shapes it as well. If children are seen as citizens of the future and also small people that must undergo conformation to become “normal” members of society, children’s literature is a perfect place to start implementing a set of values that are synonymous with the mainstream’s. In “The Truant” and “The Truant Boy’s End”, The Messrs. Abbott clearly implies that a child’s obedience directly correlates to his/her worthiness of love.
In “The Truant”, a young boy named Henry gets distracted on the way to school by a boat. God forbid children develop and cultivate their sense of adventure and curiosity! No, children must go to school, bury their heads in books, and conform! However, Henry’s little escapade costs him and sends him in a spiral of guilt and causes him to commit more sins. In “The Truant Boy’s End”, children are taught that should they wander from the defined path set before them of obedience, they will surely die alone and sad out in the cold. Children are information sponges and would understand from these pieces that should they be disobedient or tell a lie even once that they will be unworthy of love and will be alienated from society. A great tool used in propaganda is fear and what better way to create a society with an anxiety of fitting in and being normal than to scare children in seemingly harmless pieces of literature.
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.
The tales of Peter Parley about America
When I first started to read to this book I thought it was going to be a great and fun story about this man’s many adventures. As I continued to read, I was a little disturbed and uneasy about the descriptive stories about brutality. It was written in a way that was very matter of fact or accepting way. The character was said to have enjoyed the hunting experience, despite the fawn falling over “violently” when it was struck in the heart. Parley went to spend time with Wampum but he was killed and somehow there was no true emotion attached to the loss of who I thought was going to be a very important character. Parley said that Wampum was his “old protector” and “friend” and would expand more on this happening later on but as I already mentioned the author writes in a factual way, I suppose because this was not only a memoir but a history lesson. I personally still felt attached and a sense of loss when this character died and lost interest afterward. I’m not sure if children would feel this way, i’m guessing it all depends on the child. I think that the author’s purpose in writing the book in a way that might be more entertaining than dishing out facts about history fell flat.
Kiddie Lit:The Cultural Construction of Children’s Literature and the Huggies Commercial
In chapter one of Kiddie Lit :The Cultural Construction of Children’s Literature by Beverly Lyon Clark, the issue of the appreciation of children and children’s literature came about. Clark discusses how children are underappreciated in society, but yet many large corporations use them primarily to make a profit. Prior to reading the preface and first chapter of the book, I had never really paid any attention to the negative connotation that is attached with being a child. Many adults dislike being referred to as a child or childish ; there is something about American society tells us that in order to be important you have to be a mature adult.
In the Huggies Pull- Ups commercial, the slogan is “I’m A Big Kid now” and in my opinion this is a direct implication that because the babies now wear Pull-Ups instead of diapers they are more important and more respected by their parents. The main person in the commercial is an older kid around the age of twelve and he is the tour guide at the “Big Kid Academy”. He is projected to be very smart while he is teaching the babies and their parents about the diapers, while the younger children are projected to be incapable of speaking or understanding what he is talking about. At the end of the commercial the older child says “if you want to be a big kid like me, grab some Pull-Ups and enroll in the Big Kid Academy today”. I think the Huggies commercial is a direct example of how children are undervalued, but yet used by society for their gains. Viewing this commercial helped me understand exactly what Clark meant in that section of the chapter.
Abbott wants boys to learn their lessons.
While reading “In the Woods,” “The Truant,” and “The Truant Boy’s End” it became pretty apparent that Abbott wrote these to educate a young reader about right and wrong. He tackles moral concepts like the value of obeying your mother, sharing, honoring obligations, and the value of honesty. That’s quite a few heavy lessons for a story for 5 year old boys and a story for 12 year old boys.
From being around kids both 5 and 12 I feel like “In the Woods” got it’s audience a little bit better than the stories of the Truant Boy. However, definitely they have the spin of what Abbott think 5 year old boy and 12 year old boys would like and what those boys should learn.
A quick Google search helped me find a Jacob Abbott site with a brief biography (http://www.jacobabbott.com/bio.html). Turns out he was a minister in addition to a children’s author. Totally get the “preachiness” of the Truant Boy stories now. This minister will show the young boy that a wayward choice will not only eat away at his conscience it will lead to a life of sin and ruin.
Here Abbott is using children’s literature as a means to teach morality lessons- pretty common thread throughout the genre. I’m not entirely convinced that Abbott was writing to engage his young reader by entertaining the reader. Rollo was much more entertaining for me.
As far as the Truant Boy goes I can’t see the 19th century boy having an epiphany of, “Oh! If I don’t follow the rules and go to school my life will end in ruin and I’ll break my mother’s heart!”
Maybe that’s the fault in many children’s stories, from then and now, that rings a little false. The writer is more concerned with the lesson or moral than drawing the reader into a good story.. On the flip side maybe that’s what makes the great children’s stories stand out- they’re great stories that happen to have life lessons.
Kiddie Lit Response
“Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grownup, to admire the grownup because it is grownup, to blush at the suspicion of being childish-these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.” This quote from C.S. Lewis that Beverly Lyon Clark mentions in her book Kiddie Lit was one that I found particularly interesting. In a society where maturity is a coveted quality, it was quite difficult for me to view this statement as having some truth to it. Being an “adult”, in my opinion, means having much responsibility, one being having a maturity level that greatly surpasses that of a child. As an adult, one is responsible for being a role model for children. This means that we are responsible for explaining to young minds what it means to be mature and what behaviors are socially acceptable or unacceptable. Furthermore, we have responsibilities that are necessary for us just to survive. This includes the all wonderful world of paying bills, feeding ourselves, and sheltering ourselves. There are, in fact, worries to have when being an adult. So for Lewis to say being concerned about being a grownup is childish is a bit inappropriate.
When we, as adults, cross the line from adulthood back into childhood/childishness, it can definitely be frowned upon. This is not to say that we cannot lower our maturity levels from time to time. Let us be completely honest, there are moments when we tend to “play around” and act like “children” when we are around our friends or when we are around younger siblings, nieces, nephews, etc. However, if this behavior carries over into our professional lives, society definitely raises its eyebrow. With this being said, I disagree with Lewis’ claim that being worried about acting childish is childish itself. There are instances in our lives where we just need to be aware of our behavior because of societal and professional expectations.
“How to Read Children’s Literature”
Children’s Literature is a peculiar genre in that its intended audience is imagined and its writers are far removed from the readers. When writing/creating a character, it’s easiest to draw from one’s own life to shape his/her experiences. I would imagine that there would be a lot of backlash if the entirety or great majority of African American literature was written by upper/middle class white men. Sure, there’s a great deal of imagination that goes into writing a story, but when the voice of an entire minority is being represented in literature by those in power, erasure happens. Children’s Literature is characterized by a lack of proper representation of those it portrays. Adults write for children and thus, assume this abstract reader. In Jonathan Klassen’s “How to Read Children’s Literature,” the reader adult writers imagine is called the “implied reader.” Klassen explains that the implied reader is “a role the text implies,” but what happens when the child isn’t the reader we assumed him/her to be?
What happens when adults imagine this nonexistent child and it doesn’t match up to the actual children who are reading? If children are seen as “other” and yet are seen as lacking sovereignty over themselves, completely dependent, and inferior to the adults they will one day become, this “implied reader” does no justice to the real child reader whose mind and imaginary worlds are viewed upon with condescension. What would it mean for our society to fully accept children as conscious citizens rather than wild animals that need to be tamed and how would that reflect in children’s literature and how it’s viewed?