The Controversial Childrens Novel Junk English Literature Essay

The Contr all all oversial Childrens Novel dispute English Literature stressWhilst violence and sin have dour appeargond in childrens books, it is scarce lately that widespread violence, such as the manipulation of the Holocaust in The male child in the Striped Pyjamas (Boyne), has been accepted as important in instruct children and young people about the more sinister aspects of human nature. In his 2005 essay, Kenneth B. Kidd explains that the treatment of such events in childrens lit is now necessary beca wasting disease we no longer have the luxury of denying the existence of or postponing the childs confrontation of evil (Kidd 121). Moustakis (1982) argues that reading literature containing violence can help children to come to non-violent solutions to obstacles in their receive lives. She claims that in fairy news reports, for example, the monsters represent a childs own inside(a) monsters and can allow them to vicariously master them (Moustakis 30) she also echoes Favats beliefs, stating that the fairy tale handles rightness and retribution in a manner that young children go out (Moustakis 29). Kristine Miller (2009) supports this view, attesting that war allegory can also communicate a healthy guidance to deal with conflict. War is an undeniable part of our field, ever so relevant, and war fiction, Miller argues helps readers to think constructively about a world being destroyed (Miller 273).The realities and consequences of war and political oppression be make themes of Beverley Naidoos The Other Side of Truth (2000). After the assassination of their mother, Sade and Femi are forced to flee Nigeria to seek asylum England. Separated from their journalist fill inher, and dispose in London with no money and nowhere to go, Naidoo claims her clean aims to dampen the impact of the wider society and its politics on the lives of young characters (Naidoo). After a traumatic series of events, the children are placed with sensitive fost er parents, only to discover that their father has been arrested, detained and is facing deportation. Written in the third person, and told from Sades perspective, the new production lines the childrens experiences in London with their old vivification in Nigeria and their expectations of England based on BBC World Service broadcasts. The contrasts between the two countries are reflected in the treatment that Sade and Femi receive at the hands of the children at school, the strangers they meet in London, and the welfare and social systems and support Naidoos belief that the world of refugees in Britain is for the close to part submerged under public indifference and increasingly overt repulsion (Naidoo, Carnegie Medal acceptance speech).The major theme of the refreshed is suggested by the gloss and has a number of interpretations an individuals view of the world based on their own context the contrast between Sade and Femis middle-class perspective of themselves in the polit ically oppressed Nigeria versus the racism that they face in England and perhaps the most significant within the novel Sades moral struggle between her stock understanding that Truth keeps the hand cleaner than soap (Naidoo 74), and the realisation that her fathers equity- grave led, inadvertently, to her mothers death, and their upshot struggles in England. As the oldest sibling, Sade has to assume the parental role, making the decisions regarding what randomness she willing share with the authorities to get help, whilst at the same time trying to protect herself, her brother, and her father. Her surrender to deception and lies weighs heavily upon her, and is oddly pellucid in her fear and disgust after her theft of the lighter from Miriams uncles shop, particularly in light of Mariams revelations about her past. It is not until the children discover that their father is subsisting and in London that they begin to experience some sort of peace, although their hopes are qui ckly dimmed by the knowledge that he is on crave strike and faces deportation back to Nigeria. The novels conclusion, whilst not the simplistic happy-ever-after is nevertheless, optimistic, and is a behave result of Sades determination and decision to tell her truth. As Jana Giles notes, the message of the novel appears to be that non-violent solutions are the answer, quoting Folarins comment in his letter to his children that We must daring to tell. Across the oceans of time, words are mightier than swords (Naidoo 193). With her novels, Naidoo attempts to encourage children to examine the the historical, social, and political context, hoping that they will begin not only to question What will happen neighboring? but Why is this happening (Naidoo, An Interview with Beverley Naidoo). Naidoos comments on her books appear to reflect Falconers beliefs, though on a more world-wide scale while Falconer seems to constrain her comments to the reality of the intended reader, Naidoo ai ms to address the wider reality of the moral human public (Naidoo, A Writers Journey Retracing The Other Side of Truth 340).The debate over what is suitable material for childrens literature is one of the oldest and most active (Reynolds 88). antecedently highly conservative in content, recent years have seen an addition in the number of books deal with sex, death, sin and prejudice, and good and evil are not neatly separated but mixed up in the confused and often turbulent emotions of the central characters themselves (Appleyard 100). In his essay, Melvin Burgess admits that Junk was an experiment, explaining that he felt there to be a lack of literature that would speak to real teenagers (Burgess). Like Naidoo, Burgess strived for authenticity, knowing that the book was in all likelihood to have a rough ride (Burgess), and despite the criticism, Junk went on to win the Guardian Fiction Award and the Carnegie Medal.Junk is certainly precise different from the portrayal of adole scents by earlier authors like Ransome. The novel focuses on two 14-year-old heroin addicts David, who has for years, been protecting his alcoholic mother from his abusive father, and Gemma, who yearns for risky venture and escape from her oppressive parents They had no doubt at all that unless my life was made as miserable as possible, Id be a drug addict whore by midnight. (Burgess, Junk 65). Gemmas attitude is in terrible contrast to for example, Wendys confident belief that her mother would always leave the window light for her (Barrie 4.1). Both Gemma and David crave freedom, but not the freedom of an innocent childhood, or else the perceived freedom of early adulthood It wasbeing on my own, having an adventure. Yeah. It was life. A big, fat slice of life. (Burgess, Junk 69) That Gemma is only able to experience this adventure by leaving her parents is sadly ironic, and, implies that perhaps such adventure cannot be ground within childhood, only by leaving it behind.Afte r a drawing third-person narrative in the first chapter, Junk is composed of the individual testimonies of the characters, with Gemma and diddlyshit taking approximately half of the chapters. This form of first person narrative, referred to as immediate-engaging-first-person narration (Schwenke-Wyile 185), enables the narrative to become more intimate and revealing because the narrating federal agent and the focalizer are the same (Schwenke-Wyile 188-189). Whilst Junk doesnt openly condemn drug use or prostitution, Burgess use of irony and the contradictions between the individuals testimonies, reveal the truth about the events of the novel and the effects those events have on the characters. Burgess relies on his readers ability to make a moral judgement (Burgess, Sympathy for the rebuke 319), rather than lecturing, which he says young people get enough of at school (Burgess, Sympathy for the incommode 319). Whilst Burgess wants to avoid lecturing his readers, his trust for a uthenticity in his novels, and his reputation for honest paternity (Burgess, Sympathy for the Devil 316), suggest that he still wants to educate them. This is reminiscent both of Beverley Naidoos intentions when writing The Other Side of Truth, and of Rachel Falconers belief that childrens literature should address the reality of their lives. in that location is some debate over whether or not historical fiction can address contemporaneous issues Coram Boy however, is an example of historical fiction that deals with issues such as race, abandonment, and even teenage pregnancy. As Ringrose points out, in display that children of the past suffered injustice, it implies similar injustices are suffered by todays children, and furthermore, in reading the novel, a child would find out much about 18th-century England (Ringrose 359). Coram Boy exposes readers to the stark differences between the lives of the children of wealthy aristocrats, those born to the lower classes, and the bleak reality of the lives of deprive children. Through Gavins characters, the social injustices of eighteenth-century England are revealed children abandoned to die, sold into slavery or the military the contrast between the opportunities available to children of the wealthy aristocrats versus those of the lower classes the mistreatment of mentally-challenged individuals racial discrimination. Slavery may now be illegal, but most of these issues conserve to be relevant today. Gavin claims that historical fiction can enable writers to explore events, issues, relationships or situations, which sometimes can be easier to deal with when re locomote from a contemporary context. (Gavin 363) Coram Boy allows readers to compare their own culture with that of England in the eighteenth century and in doing so implies that whilst society may have pass on there are still many things that need to be achieved. As Ringrose attests, Jamila Gavin brings to Coram Boy a modern interest in difference, race and justice (Ringrose 361).One of the issues with historical fiction, particularly for children, is historical the true. Gavin believes that First and foremost, a writer of fiction is telling a story, so sometimes, intentionally or unintentionally, accuracy may not be as thorough as it would be in non-fiction (Gavin 365), and uses this to justify some of her stretched truths and distorted facts (Gavin 366). The use of narrative telling in Coram Boy is also significant in relation to evaluating how the historical consummation is portrayed. The majority of the events are narrated in the third-person, and in plow speech is favoured over direct speech. These techniques enhance the reliability and objectivity of the narrative, implying that the novel is an account of an historical event rather than a work of fiction. The minimal use of direct speech may be an attempt to avoid the problem of characters period speech which can result in inconsistencies, such as Melissas contemporary usage of the phrase hanging around in contrast to Isobels former comment that Otis has such a lack of respect in his bearing (Gavin, Coram Boy 129). The consequence of such inaccuracies in a novel is open to debate if, as Falconer believes, literature should focus on the reality of childrens lives, then is poetic licence justified as a means to an end does it matter if the history is accurate as long as the issues are relevant?Much of the literature produced for children today has moved away from the Romantic notion of childhood, and this change is largely due to the way the world is today increasingly urban, with a rise in curse rates (House of Commons) and decline in familial support networks. Childhood is an comprehensive term and does not reflect the individual, as Peter Hunt argues that it is zippy that the inevitable variety of childhood and childhoods is acknowledged in its real readers, and it discrepancy as a social and commercial construction is acknowledged in the t exts (Hunt 23). With such variety and variability then, the reality of young peoples lives must for certain be subjective, since each individual child experiences things, and reacts to these experiences in their own way. Whilst I agree with Rachel Falconers statement, and believe that children should be told the truth about the world in which they live, I think that Slayton has better conveyed my opinion to avoid in childrens literature anything that children fail to avoid or cannot avoid in their own lives is to do them a considerable disservice (Slayton).