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Essay / The essence of childhood in literature
Are the childhoods that society talks about in popular literary works accurate representations of how children have lived throughout history, or are the authors of these texts portraying the personalities of their characters in a less conventional? Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay In Lord of the Flies, the devious and non-absolute natures of young men are pushed onto a previously uninhabited island and left to operate at the exterior. of what society would consider normal. However, societal norms are subjective in that they are both predetermined and malleable depending on circumstances. Creative works and literary texts have long been used by critics and artists to establish principles of childhood. In books such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the reader is allowed to experience the sly and mischievous attitudes of one of literature's most remarkable characters. Along with Tom Sawyer and his companion, the outcast Huckleberry Finn, the main purpose of these works written by Mark Twain was to "pleasantly remind adults of what they themselves were" (Twain's Preface). The sequel to his first novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, further supports Twain's mission to introduce childish "purity" into the world of literature. However, Mark Twain was not considered a futurist and he had no idea of how a child's "queer endeavors" could evolve in society (Twain's Preface). Other literary works, such as the more modern Superfudge texts written by Judy Blume and the young adult novel Walk Two Moons written by Sharon Creech, move away from the constraints of their 19th-century predecessors. With the help of written works carried out by literary critics such as WEB Du Bois, William Wordsworth and Henry James, as well as other forms of literature, fundamental aspects of creativity, childhood and fiction. Of course, literature has the prerogative to embellish, but the question of how far it is too far from the truth seems to be an ever-growing mystery. Through the discussion of these books, the progression and evolution of childhood can be seen in the fabric of the literary world. Furthermore, William Golding's Lord of the Flies can be seen for what it really is: the destruction of a literary stereotype. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 1999. The idea of children being left to their own devices has had a great influence in the literary world thanks to William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies. A child's personality traits when separated from parents or authority figures are not only a matter of the child's integrity, but also a matter of individual origin. For many, an individual's behavioral traits are directly affected by the social aspects around them. For example, Ralph's boldness is represented by his description of being "quite old, twelve years and a few months", and Golding goes on to talk about how Ralph has lost his "protruding belly from childhood and not yet old enough for adolescence.” makes him awkward” (Golding 10). On the other hand, children are susceptible to peer pressure, but the lengths to which children and young adults will go to prove a point, including controversial points, are incredibly difficult to determine or predict. to expect. Plot-wise, Lord of the Flies brings together several young boys, aged six to fourteen, and fails themon an island after a plane crash. Initially, children cooperated and worked together to pool their resources and survive the elements of nature. Over time, hubris and pride overcame the struggling boys, and a self-inflicted disaster befell them. This piece of young adult literature written by William Golding dismantles previous depictions of children in literature. Machado, Maria, Carmen “Help me follow my sister to the land of the dead. » Lightspeed Magazine, September 3, 2015, www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/help-follow-sister-land-dead/. In late 2015, Carmen Maria Machado composed a short story titled Help Me Follow My Sister to the Land of the Dead, discussing the lengths an individual would go to for their brother or sister. In this short story, an older sister named Ursula Ruiz must travel to Jerusalem and ultimately "the land of the dead" in an attempt to bring her younger sister Olivia back from the underworld. The story is unique because its format matches frequently asked questions on a crowdfunding web page. As Ursula talks about her life at home, the reader can understand why Ursula would be annoyed by Olivia's habit of picking a random phrase and screaming "at the top of her lungs and" doing it "over and over like a computer problem until "Ursula" runs away. out of the room” (Machado 2). Olivia is described as "an outsider" by her older sister, "not to mention a strange girl" in her general character. The childhood of the two sisters is briefly mentioned, but the parental figures of these two young adults leave ample room for suggestions regarding the education of these children. Ursula's boldness is tested during her journey to the "land of the dead." Samatar, Sofia. "How to return to the forest." Lightspeed Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, October 26, 2016, www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/how-to-get-back-to-the-forest/. In How to Return to the Forest, the story focuses on a singular aspect of a dystopian society, namely how the children of this community grow into their roles as adults. The narrator of this story pays special attention to the true main character of the story, Cee, a curious young woman determined to escape the boundaries that her society has built around her. At the beginning of this story, Cee remembers that she and her friends "had only been at camp for about six weeks," but that the days seemed longer and more tiring because "camp was on its own calendar—a period special of life” ( Samatar 3). Overall, this text was written to show how individuality can slowly be drained from a child and that the confined nature of a dystopian society can produce strange results on children's development. Towards the end of the text, the future of all the children except Cee is described as bleak or boring. Blume, Judy. Superfudge. Seedlings, 1986. Judy Blume is widely considered one of America's most popular children's book writers. His credibility as a writer ranges from dramatic to comedic, depending on Blume's intended audience. Superfudge is one of his best-known children's plays, as it follows the rambunctious antics of a four-year-old boy named Farley Drexel Hatcher, otherwise known as Fudge. This text was written in the late 1980s, introducing aspects of childhood into a very different and evolved era of thought. Overall, children of the late 20th century are valued and, in most households of that era, precious. The natural animosities of sibling rivalry are portrayed in a pleasant and delightful manner. With narration from Peter, Fudge's relatively responsible older brother, the reader gets to witness the morelight and non-threatening childhood.Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Oxford University Press, 2016. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is another work written by Mark Twain to complement The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Additionally, Huckleberry Finn was previously created to resemble the personal childhood of Mark Twain and then Samuel Clemens. However, Huckleberry Finn was designed to work in contrast to his peer and best acquaintance, Thomas Sawyer. Initially, Huckleberry Finn's private life was not developed during the arrangement and madness shown in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, leaving room for strong character development, which Twain immersed himself in. Tom and Huck grew up in St. Petersburg, Missouri, yet Huck was subjected to a much more difficult existence than his counterparts due to his parentage and low social status. In reference to his former father, Huck "was afraid of him all the time", not only because he "tanned" Huck so much, but because of the way "his hair was long, matted and greasy, and hanging down, and you I could see his eyes shining as if he were behind vines; » a surreal depiction of what a father should be like (Twain 39). This young man's childhood would be considered extreme and, in many cases, dangerous or full of discontent. To combat the adversity thrown at him, Huck uses his remarkable willpower to achieve his goals toward freedom. Creech, Sharon. Walk two moons. Harper Collins Publishers, 1992. Walk Two Moons is a relatively modern coming-of-age story that breaks away from the cliché of young adult novels by offering children and young adults a more complex message. In this story, a young woman named Salamanca Tree Hiddle travels with her grandparents across North America. The path that this family chooses is the same as that taken by the mother of Salamanca before disappearing. During her journey, Salamanca or Sal recalls several memories in which she experienced crucial events in her life. During one of his flashbacks, Sal remembers how his "father slowly turned around." His eyes were red and swollen. I think he cried. His hands and shit were greasy, but when he hugged her, she “didn’t flinch” (Creech 69). This young woman's composure and temper repels many of the people she comes into contact with, including her peers. Overall, this is a young adult novel that describes the constant loss of a childhood. Overall, Sharon Creech made Salamanca Tree Hiddle's existence unique, while still remaining relevant to a certain extent. Du Bois, WEB Criteria of Negro Art. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, June 1926. Du Bois expressed dissatisfaction with the way African American artists were ignored and neglected by the more influential white social classes. Du Bois opens his speech by acknowledging the fact that there are communities of individuals who do not appreciate the coming together of those who wish to disrupt the status quo in an effort to give the world a mentality of equality. He talks about slavery as well as the alleged inability of "negroes" to achieve feats of creativity and ingenuity, while maintaining a satirical attitude. Despite the difficulties the civil rights community faced, Du Bois speaks out about the work ethic of the individuals behind the civil rights movement. He views many of the achievements made by African Americans as mountaintop experiences or as foundations for a stronger, more structured world. However, WEB Du Bois wisely explains to the masses that their.