The experiences of childhood are defined and portrayed in numerous ways throughout texts. In my research, I have chosen texts that display a wide range of different stereotypes of children and the varied situations that they are in. The texts I have chosen are Angelas Ashes by Frank McCourt, Frost at Midnight by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The God Boy directed by Murray Reece, The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield, and Boy, directed by Taika Waititi. These texts include children that are living in poverty in Ireland, children living an upper class lifestyle in New Zealand (NZ), children living middle class life in the city of London, children living an abusive life in New Zealand and children living without parent in NZ. Although all these texts share a similar theme, many differences relating to this theme exist.
How are the experiences of childhood presented in the texts?
While investigating different texts and the way in which the common theme Experiences of Childhood is presented, I had to take into consideration that style of writing, setting, era the text was written and type of text in order to successfully answer this question. In the first text I analysed, I discovered very distinctive techniques that were used to uncover the theme Experiences of Childhood. In Angelas Ashes, the author Frank McCourt uses the setting and its culture to express this theme. The story is set in Limerick, Ireland where poverty is common and welfare systems are limited. For example, Franks mother relies on the St Vincent De Paul for simple needs such as flour. The author uses a great deal of colloquial language to convey the culture of Limerick which furthers my understanding of Franks experiences as a child, and the reality of his life. The constant use of colloquial language gives me the indication that life was indeed uneducated, casual and informal. The author also incorporates many old Irish songs in his writing. This gives me a feel for life in Limerick and the kind of culture that the main character, Frank, was surrounded by. The author also writes this novel in first person point of view, giving me a valuable outlook on Frank and his emotion, experiences and opinions. Being presented in first person, I believe that the theme is presented very strongly as we are given a childs view on their first-hand experience. The author also chose to present the story in present tense, achieving the immediacy of Franks experience. In my opinion, using first person point of view was a clever technique used by the author, as it clearly and successfully presents this theme.
The way that Angelas Ashes has presented the theme is comparable with the techniques that Murray Reece has used in the film The God Boy. This film likewise is largely presented in first person narration and achieves similar results. The story unfolds through the eyes of a young boy named Jimmy. I get to experience what Jimmy goes through and follow his views on the experiences he undergoes. For example, Jimmys sister tries to talk to him about their parents and how they make her unhappy; Jimmy only calls his sister silly and foolish. It is clear that Jimmys views and thoughts are dominant in the story because of the first person point of view. The director has successfully achieved presenting the theme in a real and believable manner. Not only does the director use first person narration to brilliantly present the theme, but he also uses colour. When Jimmy passes out from stress and anxiety that his home life is placing on his life, he sees swirls of red. It is evident through this that Jimmys experiences of childhood are unpleasant. The director also presents the theme through low angle shots. These are used frequently throughout the film to realistically perceive how Jimmy views his surroundings. Low angle shots are often used when Jimmys father is in the shot, which places a daunting and intimidating view upon him. An example of where it is used is when Jimmy witnesses his mother fall (we suspect she is pushed by the father). Low angle shots are used when Jimmy looks to his father. The theme of childhood experiences is revealed effectively through Jimmys frightening experiences with his father.
However, in the poem Frost at Midnight by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the writer uses completely different techniques and skills to portray the theme of Experiences of Childhood. This poem possesses a strong link to the English Romanticism era in which it was written. Samuel Taylor Coleridge uses the effect of nature on imagination to convey this common theme in his poem. There is a strong belief that weaves within the poem that there is a significant relationship between the imagination and creativity in children and the natural world. The poem demonstrates a child who has grown up in the city and feels deprived of what the country side could have offered him e.g. of my sweet birth place, and the old church tower, whose bells, the poor mans only music, rang from morn to evening. This theme and its presentation through nature is superbly developed through the use of language techniques. An example of where this is evident is shalt wander like a breeze by lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags of ancient mountains. The use of personification and strong imagery makes it evident that the writer values nature and believes a good childhood is one that is been surrounded with the natural world. The writer also uses transitions between times periods to give and understanding of why the narrator in the poem is so passionate about giving his own son a perfect childhood. The narrator of the poem says For I was reared in the great city, pent mid cloisters dim, and saw nought lovely but the sky and stars. This communicates the time difference and connects the narrators up bringing to the childhood experiences he wishes his own son to have. To conclude, different authors/directors use varying techniques to portray the theme of childhood experiences. However, the theme is still clearly communicated, even though it differs in the way it has been achieved.
How do the childhood experiences that the characters endure affect their lives?
In the novel Angelas Ashes, the experiences that the children endure have major effects on their lives as they able to do little because of the condition of poverty they are in. The main character, Frank, lives an extremely grim life because of the poverty he is exposed to. In the novel, Frank says, "When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. It is obvious that his grey childhood has had big impacts on his life, as now he has nothing to look back on but daunting memories. The quote the poverty; the shiftless loquacious alcoholic father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bullying schoolmasters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years. also shows that Frank is horribly affected by his childhood. The author of this novel has used the aspects of pain and suffering to develop the influences that the childhood experiences have had on the character. I think that the use of this sorrow and grief is effectively used as it carries out the theme of childhood experiences in a clear and pure manner. By doing this, the author effectively makes us feel the sorrow the characters feel and understand the circumstances they are in.
Similarly to this, the film Boy directed by Taika Waititi, also expresses the affects that childhood experiences have on the character, Boy, by using grief and sadness. In Boy, the main character Boy lives with his Grandmother, his siblings and cousins. When he is eleven years old, his father, whom he has not previously met, returns to retrieve money that he left behind. Boy holds high hopes for his father, and had imagined him as a super hero while he was absent from his life. Boy soon comes to terms with reality, that his father is a gangster who is constantly on the run. Boy is a strong character, however, he is familiar with disappointment and loss. He continues on, although he is disappointed about the person his father really is. Again, the use of sorrow is effectively used by the director to show the influences on the characters.
The father of Frank in Angelas Ashes also left, and the family is left to pick up the pieces. In these two texts, the use of pain and loss used to express the way in which childhood experiences have affected the characters is done excellently. The theme childhood experiences is effectively portrayed in these two texts.
The affects that childhood experiences have on the characters in these two texts is quite the opposite to that of The Garden Party written by Katherine Mansfield. In this short story, the main character, Laura, grows up in a wealthy family where troubles are minimal and life consists of nothing but high class parties and dressing up. The affects that childhood has had on her life are nothing but good. When Laura visits the family down the road who lost a family member, she is opened up to a whole new world. It is here that she realises how lucky she is to live such a life and becomes more aware about social status and class. The experiences that Laura endures up until this point do not have major effects on her life as she has a sound foundation and wealthy family who can support her. However, this one experience changes Laura forever as she is not as innocent and is now worldlier. When Laura goes to visit the underprivileged family down the road, she crosses into the first stage of adulthood. When she sees the body of Mr Scott, the man who has passed, she begins to understand the meaning of life and death in a world in which all human beings share a common humanity and class distinctions are non-existent. In the texts I studied, I discovered that the effects of childhood experiences differ greatly. Although Katherine Mansfield has taken a completely different approach in comparison with Angelas Ashes and Boy, the effects that the characters endure are still effectively revealed. I have come to the conclusion that the severity of these effects is heavily dependent on the characters situation, for example social class, wealth, popularity, living condition and education. The way in which the characters deal with the conditions they are in also contributes to the severity of the effects. We see in these texts that some characters are able to battle hardship while others prove to be frail in tough spells.
What do the experiences the children have reflect about society?
In the texts I have studied, the experiences that the children have endured in the texts reflect a wide-range of views about society. In the short story The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield, society is portrayed as a class-specific society where social status is valued above all. The character of Laura hears about a death of a neighbour and feels that the garden party that her family is hosting should be cancelled out of respect for the grieving family. It is here that Laura realises that the social class is considered more important than others of lower class. Laura says, Really, it was very tactless of father, when Lauras father decides that the party will continue regardless of any situation that the lower class people are dealing with. Mrs Sheridan says to Laura, People like that don't expect sacrifices from us. And it's not very sympathetic to spoil everybody's enjoyment as you're doing now." The idea that Lauras parents are protecting their children from the harsh reality of class distinctions and grievances such as death, reveals that society revolves around social status. When Laura and her sister were small children, they were confined to a "desert island" (the Sheridan estate), and their parents refused to allow them to visit the disgusting and sordid settlement of common folk down the road. This also shows the heavy influence that class has on society. Katherine Mansfield uses the experiences of Laura in an exceptional way to reveal that society is class specific.
Another text that has similar portrayals about class in society is Angelas Ashes. In this film, Franks grows up in Ireland in the depression era (1930-1940). Many families are struggling, especially those of lower class. Franks family is deprived of basic needs, and are pushed to the end of priority because he is of a low social class. Frank and his family receive little help in their difficult situation and lose children due to starvation and poor health. It is obvious that society of this era is under a lot of pressure because of the depression, but it is times like these where people must be treated equally and receive the same benefits and financial help as everyone else. Instead, it is the upper class society that receives first preference for help and support. Franks experiences of having to work at a young age, starvation, losing siblings and having no stable shelter reflect that society was unfair and ignoring the fact that so many were suffering. The quote "Andy says, I don't understand how they can give loans to people who want to spend two weeks lying on the sand at the goddam Jersey shore and then turn down a woman with three kids hanging on by her fingernails.", shows how unfair society was at that time. The quote,"...you, the privileged, the chosen, the pampered, with nothing to do but go to school, hang out, do a little studying, go to college, get into a money-making racket, grow into your fat forties, still whining, still complaining, when there are millions around the world who'd offer fingers and toes to be in your seats, nicely clothed, well fed, with the world by the balls.", also furthers how Frank saw society and how his childhood experiences were greatly ignored and overlooked by society. Similarly to Katherine Mansfield, Franks McCourt uses the experiences of Frank to admirably reflect society.
The way childhood experiences affect the portrayal of society in the film Boy, is not as focused on class distinction as The Garden Party and Angelas Ashes, but more on the broken family life in NZ. In Boy, the setting is of a small town in the rural area near Waihau Bay, NZ. Here, it seems normal to the children to not see your parents or have contact with them. This film depicts what society is like in parts of NZ, and how raw some family situations can be. The film perceives that NZ society is familiar with disturbances in families such as these. Taika Waititi convincingly reveals what society is like through the experiences of Boy.
In the various texts I have studied during the completion of this investigation, there have been noticeable similarities and differences in the way that the theme experiences of childhood is presented in the texts, the effects the characters endure due to these experiences and how society is portrayed through the childhood experiences. Different authors/writers/directors use different techniques and styles to create these similarities and differences, but regardless of this, the common theme is still clearly portrayed in the texts.
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