Tag Archives: the truant

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The Truant Boy: A Moral Behind Every Children’s Story

In The Truant by Abbott, it tells a story about a boy named Henry who skipped school when he found a boat as he traveled there. Not only did he discover the boat, but he decided that he should sit in it a little while before he continued his journey on to school. However, after paddling deeper into the stream he struggled to get back ashore and by the time he did reach dry land he was too tired to even go to school. The next day when he arrived for school, he had to make up a lie to avoid getting detention and he got away without any repercussions.  So, once he realized that he could get away with skipping school, he began to do it more often; but each time he lied to his teacher, he would develop a guilty conscience.

In my opinion, I feel that this story follows the guideline of most children’s literature. Almost every piece of literature where children are audience, there is some type of lesson that the author tries to project through their writing. The moral of this short story tells young readers that it is never good to lie under any circumstances. In the story, not only did Henry lie but he also developed a guilty conscience because he knew that skipping school was wrong, but he also knew that telling a story to avoid getting in trouble was even worse. I’m not completely sure if Abbott intended to also show that one bad thing can lead to a world of other negative things, however that’s what I got out of the reading and I think that is also a good hidden message for children to know. A lot of literature written for children prepares them for certain essential aspects of the real world such as never to lie, cheat or steal.

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“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.