Many of the characters in the poems, novels, and short stories set for this subject are outsiders who "see" differently to those around them. With reference to one or more texts from the subject, discuss what ideological and/or aesthetic function these characters serve.
New literary eras demand different interpretations of the texts. While in the Shakespearian time the plays that have been identified as tragedies usually involve a royal character. He either is driven mad or he dies in the timeframe set by the play. The modern novels demand different approaches and views. The readers are acting as though they demand the some level of sophistication. While Shakespeare plays almost always give out their purpose in the opening act modern novelists keep the suspense until the last moment. The suspense is what gives the novel a purpose otherwise it would be almost impossible for readers to keep up with the story. The suspense is usually kept through the character interaction and their relationship(s). The concept of modern is set around the freedom hence the novels portray characters as independent. And unlike the Shakespearian plays they are creators of intense rather than puppets who are told to obey or else. They are attributed with the feelings, they have different views. They are made to be unique in every sense. This representation of uniqueness gives them different functions, two of which The Man Who Loved Children is set to explore, ideological and aesthetic functions of the characters.
Aesthetic function is pinnacle to this novel as it portrays a household in disarray.
Constant fighting between Sam and Henny are core of this novel. This fighting is then set to put the children in negligence by the parents. Children then become disillusioned with the life in household setting out one of them to leave showing the selfishness on its part by abandoning the siblings which has resulted by the behavior of the parents. Word aesthetic alone represents the sensatory side of human life. In sense it represents the feelings. And feeling and emotions is core to understanding this novel.
But it is Hennys ideological side that gives out the meaning to their fights. It is seen in her dissatisfaction and anger that she shows towards her husband, and in her disappointment of her marriage. The night of our marriage I knew I was doomed unhappinessThe first week I wanted to go back home. Sam also has an ideological side which is expressed in his unclean nature. He makes mess around and expects someone else to clean which usually ends up in his anger towards the kids. Sam idealizes his women and the proof of it is shown in the way he starts his day. Every morning, for example, he wakes his younger daughter, Evie whom he calls "Little-Womey" for Little Woman, and makes her massage his scalp while he lies in bed.
To understand the characters and the two functions we need to go deeper into the novel and unveil their flaws and engage into their personal lives. But it is not as easy as it sounds at first. The reason is that novel is not for everyone and you have to be in a good mood to read it otherwise it becomes unscrambled puzzle, the words without the meanings as book is so long and so complicated.
As you set out to read the book you get the feeling that you are in the middle of Dickens Matilda. The Pollit family has its own comical language, holidays and customs. And the other example of Sams ideological side is that he is full of big dreams of brotherhood between the people and the glorious times that are coming to human race. In a sense he had a dream of selective breeding.
Pollit are family with a lot of children, seven including Louisa, Sams child from the previous marriage. They reside in a large house in Washington, United States. Henny is one of twelve children coming from a reasonably wealthy family. On the other hand Sam is self made, also coming from an enormous family with no importance or wealth. He works for the Bureau of Fishers. He is smart but impolitic. Sam is drunk on his own words, on his mission, on his own raised ideas and he is impressed with himself. And that is where Stead is brilliant, communicating Sams annoying excesses of his demeanor. He is also a narcissist. But mostly he is a man that loves children, hence where the title comes from. Even though he has got a lot of his children it is not enough. So he uses his charm to lure the other children from the neighborhood. Throughout the book we get the sense that Sam has a wish to have children of every race and colour. We can interpret this as weird since he does not care nor protect his own children, nor he puts them first in any situation; he tends to treat them as adults. Although he does not like when they tease him in any way. "My system," Sam continued, which I invented myself, might be called Monoman or Manunity!" Evie laughed timidly, not knowing whether it was right or not. Louisa said, "You mean Monomania." Evie had continued to laugh at Sam. Sam said coolly, "You look like a gutter rat, Looloo, with that expression. Monoman would only be the condition of the world after we had weeded out the misfits and degenerates. Yet Sam would say this in a tone that children recognized as threatening.
Sam comes across as proud of his ideas and projects. Cristina portrays him as a talkative person who pries into the lives of others especially his kids. But most annoying characteristics of Sam that he is insecure hence he ridicules children that do not please him. He can be seen as an atheist god as he seems to know everything that goes around his neighborhood. Especially the younger children who are defenseless against both his charm and his crimes.
Henny on the other hand is an anarchist, and a person that rejects every theory of morality and religious belief. She is portrayed as someone who is not really full of life as she is married to Sam who she despises. The night of our marriage I knew I was doomed unhappinessThe first week I wanted to go back home. . She comes from a wealthy Baltimore family and has married to a middleclass man. So she is always frustrated by the poverty and the hard work that she has to do as Sams wife. We get the feeling that Henny is stuck in this marriage. She then develops the hate not only towards the Sam but to herself and children as well. She is a violent and her verbal frustration is shown often and they are testimony of her oppression. Her oppression is shown in her own words when she says my poor body was what you took your success out of.. I hated and detested you and screamed in your ears to get away from me, but you wouldn't let me go. She also has desire to divorce him and it is shown in her words Ill divorce you. Cries Henny. Ill find a way. There must be a way. And Ill take my children from you. She knows what would destroy Sam. It is the life without children. We see this in a chapter where Louie says that she will go away. You must let me leave you. Said Louie you must give me some freedom.Looloo you will never leave me, you must never leave me: you and I must cleave together through the storms to come.
Sam is able to stop Henny by slapping her mouth. All of this violence goes in front of the children hence they are exposed to it. They never stop to consider feelings of the children. Throughout the novel we see that Henny is constantly threatening with suicide, murder and arson. This state of mind is reinforcing the status of her helplessness. At the birth of her sixth child she is in a pain and anger and the children are exposed to it. She is also portrayed as a prisoner, does not leave her room much.
But the book is not just the doomed story of parenthood in the novel. It is also a story of a girl that is entering her adolescent age. She is becoming rebellious as teenagers usually do. She starts to look life from different angles. She does not see her father as all-seeing and all-knowing demigod that he comes across as. I know something, said Louie, I know there are people not like us, not muddleheaded like us, better than us. Her words here show us that rebellion that she shows towards her father also her maturity and even though she still fears him she recognizes that her household is not the boundary of the life. As she attends the school she is taught new things and for first time she stands up to her father. And later on she stands on her own feet.
Louie Has made up her mind to leave the house. In this desire to go away we can see the relationship that she has developed with her dear friend Claire. Claire was a child from a poor family, and her poverty was not a secret. Her parents have died and she was cared by her poor aunt. During the winter time she would walk around in a dirty and torn coat. Kids at school would, the older ones thought she was crazy while the younger ones thought who the dirty girl was dressed underneath the torn coat. She may be the reason why she leaves the house as she is only bright spot in Louies life. Even though we find out that she abandons her dear friend at the end. Well I suppose youll come back for school.. No I wont, I will never come back.
In conclusion the both Aesthetic and ideological functions of this book even though aesthetic function of the characters in the book is more shown in parents Henny and Sam because of their mental nature. While ideological function has been portrayed through the characters of Sam and Louie. Sam is vivid character who has his Flaws and problems. His imagination is portrayed in his love towards the children, diversity between his kids as he wishes he has kid of each colour and race. Louie on the other hand can is visionary who imagines better world is waiting for her out of the household of her house; hence she leaves at the end. Aesthetically the book is brilliant. Cristina has created the character that is master of his own domain who has great control of his children throughout Most of the novel while he is in constant fight with his wife. In Henny, Stead has represented all the good and bad qualities of the stepmother, loving towards her own kids while she is mean toward Louisa. Ideological function of Henny is not represented strongly as she struggles as a visionary. The example of that is that she is mostly situated within the walls of her own house. Not every novel that was intended to be a tragedy gets to be one. Usually novelists and readers have to be content with melodrama or sombre realism, but in this novel Stead avoids both, and her techniques are very specific. Nevertheless, Stead has a lively and informed political consciousness. What is at stake in the Pollit household is power, and even given Pollit is an absolutist who desires not only to invade his children's every thought, but also to have all their love and devotion
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