Victor Kelleher, the author of the 1986 novel ‘Taronga’ explores the thematic themes of danger and survival, as it focuses on a fourteen-year-old boy named Ben who attempts to adapt in the post-apocalyptic setting of Sydney in 1986. Kelleher engages his teenage readers by giving the young protagonist telepathic powers, which enables him to communicate with animals on a whole new level, and ultimately guide him through the various misadventures he faces as he ventures throughout Sydney. In the novel, the author ingeniously presents the setting, by placing the teenage protagonist in life-threatening situations where he needs to use his special power and wits to survive against dangerous adult antagonists who are also desperate to survive. One way that Kelleher creates the impression that teenagers can cope with danger in life-threatening events are through the employment of child and adult protagonists. Teenagers are engrossed to the novel through this suspenseful plot, which places Ben in …show more content…
The difference between the child protagonists and adult antagonists throughout this novel is the generation gap and how adults are coping with danger and survival in the eerie, post-apocalyptic atmosphere differently to the teenagers. Ben is a very interesting character as he can telepathically talk to animals. Ben ensured himself that he will not use this special power after he ran away from Greg who forced him to so he could kill them for the food and skin. As a result, Ben is more vulnerable without this power as he has nothing to defend himself with. Molly, the gang leader is another character who has been detailed effectively. Kelleher describes her as demanding, daunting and powerful character as she forces Ben into doing things. Kelleher describes Greg as greedy as he only uses Ben for his special power so he can keep the dead animals skin for
Tyler, Anne. "Teenage Wasteland." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. Boston: Longman, 2012. 188-95. Print.
Victor Kelleher's book Taronga is an inspiring book about a boy barely a teenager who manages to find his style through the 'Last Days'. The 'Last Days' is as what the title displays, all the same, it will have the teen readers wanting more. Kelleher's book Taronga exhibits the life of a young teenager who learns to discover himself through the dangers around him. Taronga firmly discusses the fight for survival of not just the main character, but also another character, his teenage friend Ellie. Kelleher’s book ‘Taronga’ engages teenagers through the dangers that lurk in the book, showing the subject of ‘survival’ through the darkness and mystery of the adult characters. Kelleher displays how young teenagers can have such powerful voices
The book grasps all parts of growing up in a unstable environment, with the parents getting divorces, moving away from friends to go to a new school, the meeting of new friends the getting falsely accused of things you say you did not do but still get in trouble for, feeling like nobody likes you, feeling like running away and the lazy never wanting to get up out of bed mornings. The author, Bridget Lowry, Is trying to portray the problems of growing up and I think she succeeds in this novel. This novel is very exciting and adventurous I do recommend other students read this book
Adolescence marks the turning point of an individual's life, establishing the foundation of their development. It is during this phase that individuals leave behind the comfort of childhood and enter a reality beset with new perceptions of life. There are many stages of life, each enclosing its own distinct characteristics. As evident in the short story, The Master of Disaster, written by Guy Vanderhaeghe, adolescence involves growth as an individual, both physically and emotionally. Although each phase has its own challenges and difficulties, adolescence proves to be the most difficult stage of life to overcome. Through examination of the situations in the story, it becomes apparent that adolescence involves experiencing emotional
The novel, Watch out for Jamie Joel written by Mike Dumbleton, successfully explores a realistic view of secondary school life. Dumbleton uses a unique narrative perspective, structural manipulation, characterisation, supported by a variety of themes such as death, family conflict and pressure. Symbolism and foreshadowing heighten concern and sympathy for Craig Eliot and Jamie Joel in their every day challenges in the life of a deputy principal and a teenage girl.
By the end of the story all three teenagers are smacked in the face with reality and have come to the conclusion they are not these dangerous characters and that life is more than partying and acting like a fool. We can all recall that time in our lives when we finally noticed that we still need our parent’s guidance and that were not really adults in the mental capacity yet.
Psychologists usually agree that the teenage years are among the most difficult periods in one’s life. Most teens are trying to figure who they are, what they believe, and how they fit into the world around them. Beginning in the late 1970’s, a whole genre of fiction, referred to as coming-of- age literature, emerged and serves, at least for many teens, as believable presentations of young people learning to navigate the difficulties of their lives, often fraught with feelings of rejection, seemingly unresolvable personal turmoil, social problems, school and family issues, etc. Indeed one value of reading is to see and better understand some aspects of ourselves through studying others. The reading of SPEAK, a somewhat controversial
Teenage readers, take than anyone,undoubtedly relate to the characters’ sense of helplessness. they believe that parents, teachers, ministers, and every second authority is restricting their individuality and their freedom.
On the other hand, Helen clings to the hope that the Hole was safe. The children have the ability to analyze military events and project the impact that they will have on their lives. Benjamin predicts the events in the eastern Mediterranean will start a nuclear war. When Peyton calls her mother 'Mommy, ' you realize how young she is. It 's moments like that, that make the reader question whether the kids should be so aware of the events going on around them. Today often times on the news, we 'll see kids being interviewed at refugee camps in Syria. There is that same degree of precociousness that Helen saw in her kids reflected in the lives of children suffering because of political turmoil. Throughout the novel, it 's a little unsettling how readily the children adapt other new world. Some of the characters ' deaths are dehumanized and readers feel detached from them. For example, Marks death is readily accepted by Benjamin and Frank uses little time to process it. Mark dies in Omaha with millions of others in a nuclear attack, and so his death is passed off as a statistic. In contrast, Malachi dies right in front of the reader and so his death is more humanized. Although Frank acknowledges that the children are more inured to tragedy than their parents, he takes time to remind the readers that they are still children and should not be exposed to such realities.
Psychologists usually agree that the teenage years are among the most difficult periods in one’s life. Most teens are trying to figure out who they are, what they believe, and how they fit into the world around them. Beginning in the late 1970’s, a whole genre of fiction, referred to as coming-of-age literature, emerged and serves, at least for many teens, as believable presentations of young people learning to navigate the difficulties of their lives, often fraught with feelings of rejection, seemingly unresolvable personal turmoil, social problems, school and family issues, etc. Indeed one value of reading is to see and better understand some aspect of ourselves through studying others. The reading of SPEAK, a somewhat controversial book
In addition, the people he meets within them will guide his impressions of adulthood. As a result of encountering his old teacher who haunts his mind with thoughts of age and death, he struggles with the fear of advancing into adulthood and the aspiration of forever sustaining his childhood.
It seems natural to think about novels in terms of dreams or psychoanalytical realities. Like dreams, novels are fictions, inventions of the mind that, though based on reality, are by definition not exactly and literally true. Conversely, dreams may have some truth to tell but like novels their truth must be interpreted before it can be grasped. Such is the case with John Green's young adult novel, Looking for Alaska. It holds many truths that are relevant to young adults, but to extract those lessons, one must first view the plot and characters through a lens of psychoanalytical theory.
John begins to reveal the real-life issues teenagers deal with like, drinking, drugs, theft and a feeling of needing to impress their fellow peers. He expresses that teenagers do listen and try to follow their parent's advice however they will live their life by learning on their own. This story also includes environmental effects on teenagers. The author included a character that had no parents involved in his life, he was
I still have to go through the last 30 pages of the book, so my analysis might evolve again after reading the end of the book. In the meantime, I wanted to discuss about the character of Benally who resembles, but also contrasts with Abel. From the first moment he meets him, Ben is attracted to Abel because he senses how much Abel is psychologically damaged by the loss of his cultural bearings moving from the reservation to Los Angeles. He discovers he and Abel have a lot of things in common: Ben is also a Native American who grew up in an Indian reservation surrounded by breathtaking natural landscapes very similar to Abel’s. Like Abel, he has no family left, but his grandfather who raised him. So, Ben and Abel are united by the comparable
When talking about the main characters let us first take into account Screech, a character they have chosen to make almost depressingly simple minded. Also there is Zack, student with little to no respect for his teachers, thinking of them as some easily fooled pawns in most of his plans. The fact that the teachers are so easily fooled and strung along by this boy