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.