This is my peer response to Jenny’s Here

I agree with Jenny’s view of Black Shack Alley. Rousseau believes that this time should be a happy and joyful time. Not all children make it to their adult stage, if they not treated with care now, they might not live to an age where they would again: “You torment the poor thing for his good; you fail to see that you are calling Death to snatch him from these gloomy surroundings” (Rousseau 4). While this idea is present in some areas of the book; there are many times at which is idea is contradicted and challenged.

One case would be what Jenny stated; when children were misbehaving in school they were whipped. “Raphael was extremely fidgety, talkative and inattentive in class… the mistress always had some reason to scold or punish him” (Zobel 65). The beatings were so harsh, Raphael wept as he received the blows and Jose sympathized for him. The mistress used force to discipline the “bad” students to get them to learn and pay attention. This was only the mistreatment at school, and this is not the once case.

Jose also felt threatened and afraid the period after breaking Mme Leonce’s pitcher. After breaking it, Jose’s first reactions were to run because he was afraid of getting beaten: “Mme Leonce thinks I did it. She’ll beat me, … she’ll do all sorts of wicked things” (Zobel 73). He ran and never came near the house again. He even took detours. This fear caused him to starve for a portion of his childhood, because he was too afraid to go back and too afraid to tell M’man Tine. This fear of abuse was a physical and mental strain to Jose.

As one can tell, Jose and his friends’ childhoods were not problem free, and there are hints of mistreatment in all their lives and that goes against Rousseau’s idea of a child’s life at this age.