Ways Hartley and Frayn present Childhood in The Go-Between and Spies

The friends of the narrator, however, do not hide in the imaginary world of childhood and are maturing into adolescents. Sally, “ screamed if she got her stockings muddy,” felt they were too old to “ the games” (paragraph 9). Sally stayed by the curb and talked to the boys (paragraph 10).

In many children and young adult books, the transition from being a child to becoming more “adult-like” is a common theme. Coming of Age stories gives its readers the opportunity to go through the transition period with one or more characters from the novel. Most of these stories share similar conflicts, struggles, barriers, and developmental milestone that most of the readers are dealing with at that particular point in time of his/her life. These books and sometimes novels, describe the barriers in ways that all readers can relate to regardless of time period; these stories become more timeless universals for all readers to connect with.

The first example of the children losing their innocence is when they are describing the transition from elementary school to junior high school. Each has found that instead of one teacher, they in fact had many teachers. Additionally, the girls they were once friends with, now different in size and grace, ignored them. This becomes apparent that things have change as a result of age.

The idea of maturity is presented through the main character, Connie. Maturity is one of the themes presented, and even though Connie tries so hard to be an adult, she still shows childlike ways. When Connie is shopping, Joyce portrays Connie as having a “walk that could be childlike and bobbing, or languid enough to make anyone think she was hearing music in her head” (324). She also portrays an inner child conscious when it comes to her mother. Connie believes that her mother was simple and it was cruel to be able to trick her so easily. Even though her childlike ways show in the story, she also shows moments where her maturity is real. While Connie and her friends are going shopping, a boy in their high school invites them over to his car. Through the girls’ point of

The narrator seems to be unemotional and cold-hearted. He believes that when the parents

“In all our lives, there is a fall from innocence. A time after which, we are never the same.” – Stand By Me. Innocence can be found at any age or any point in one’s life. It means chastity, freedom from wrong, lack of knowledge, SIMPLICITY. When one has innocence the world seems easy without any worries, however that can all change when one loses their innocence. The loss of innocence can feel as though one has fallen into a black hole and can never escape, darkness, voicelessness, LONELINESS. In Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club”, Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time”, and Laurie Halse Anderson’s “Speak”, the authors use main and supporting characters to show a loss of innocence at a young age. In “The Joy Luck Club” loss of innocence is expressed through the old woman from the fourth parable, “Queen Mother of the Western Skies”. In “Once Upon a Time” loss of innocence is expressed through the young boy. In “Speak” loss of innocence is expressed though Melinda. Although all three of these characters go through the same struggle of loss of innocence, Anderson’s character Melinda is able to come to terms with her loss and regain her strength. In these three stories, Tan, Gordimer, and Anderson use the theme of loss of innocence to portray loneliness, fear, and barriers to show how one can learn from past experiences.

Many parents agree that their children grow up entirely too fast. The phrase “don’t link” is a common phrase parents’ use as they see their children’s innocence disappearing in front of their eyes. In Sharon Olds, “Rite of Passage”, she presents a mother’s observations of her son and his friends’ mannerisms and behaviors at his birthday party. Through her use of uses of imagery, irony and similes Olds shows how a boy’s exhibition of stereotypical adult behavior, in his attempt to prove he better than his friends, results in a premature his loss of his boyhood innocence.

The book tells the story of a little boy ghost named Leo. Leo is a friendly ghost who leads a very lonely life. Everywhere he goes people can’t see him and either ignore him or are afraid of him. One day he meets a little girl named Jane. Through a series of events, the two become true friends, and Jane accepts Leo for who he is. This book explores the phenomena that many children experience which is the feeling of being unaccepted because you are different. Also the fact that Leo is invisible mirrors the feeling that many of us feel at some point in our lives. We feel invisible and unnoticed by others. While these are all sad feelings, the end of the story brings a happy solution to these problems. When Jane accepts Leo for who he is it shows kids that no one is truly invisible and true friends will always love you for who you are and will see your differences as something that makes you

When readers read a story written by an author they will usually think that the author likes to read books and is what led the author to writing a book. William Goldman said, “As a child, I had no Interest in reading” (Goldman 3), this can lead readers to imagining the author as a young child rather than an adult not wanting to read a book. When Readers imagine the author as a young child the image imagined can give a better sense of how the author felt as a young child. The imagination of a child giving the reader a picture to think about is less complex than that of a adult giving a reader a picture to think about.

In J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories there are many tales centered on children, who are often depicted as a symbol of hope and connected with the values that stand in contrast to the ones typical of the adults corrupted by materialism. In my essay, I would like to concentrate on the portrayal of children in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” and “Teddy”. Even though the way these characters are depicted is similar, a child protagonist in each of the stories is representative of different things. While Sibyl can be seen as a prototype of a childlike innocence, purity and simplicity, Teddy can hardly be considered a prototypical innocent child. Despite the simplicity of Sibyl’s thinking, her presence and behavior help the reader draw many complex

Getting older brings new challenges and experiences for children and adolescents as it is a difficult point in their lives. Poets and authors often involve the theme of growing up in their works which is expressed through the words of the narrator and speaker. The children face challenges growing up in “Bangs”, “On Turning Ten” and To Kill a Mockingbird, however each author uses different literary techniques to explore the idea of growing up. “Bangs” deals with the wish to live a carefree, youthful life again after having grown up. The speaker of the poem, mentions that when she had her bangs, her biggest problems involved “the ice cream man running out of strawberry”(5).

Children’s literature is the precedent for the development of all children. Children’s literature varies from poetry to children’s picture books. Every aspect of children’s literature gives an ability to grow a child mentally and develop their ideas and imagination. In early literature, children were romanized to be perfect and well behaved. Author Maurice Sendak counters the idea of a perfect child in his book “Where The Wild Things Are”. Sendak uses his picture book to illustrate a child’s ability to have feelings of anger, resentment, and frustration. The interviewer, Patrick F. Roughen of Red Feather Journal states that“Where the Wild Things Are (1963) contains some of the earliest attempts in children’s literature to represent the intrapsychic challenges of the lives of children. Anger, frustration, and the complexities of parent-child relationships can be found throughout its pages”. “Where the Wild Things Are” reinforces the idea that children are capable of emotions that one would imagine are only depicted in the adult world.

An that he “was on his own and had to make sense out of things himself,”This is the beginning of the shift in the play; the shift in the point of view. We are now seeing the story through the eyes of the little boy grown up. He’s also learning that during his childhood he never felt a true sense of love and belonging. His curiosity lead to asking his father questions; which led to his father not taking him seriously. Which led the boy feeling like he wasn’t

They see the world differently than others. In the novel, the author uses a child’s innocence, curiosity and the fact that children

Childhood is an important part in a person’s life; it is a time when children can be carefree without having to worry about the future. During this time, children are groomed and prepared for the transition between childhood and adulthood to be smooth. However, in Heather O’Neil’s novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, Baby throws herself into the adult world without having any knowledge on how to survive. This causes her to follow the wrong paths and trust the wrong people. Baby grows beyond her years, and soon becomes too old for childhood, but too young for adulthood; she is stuck in between the two worlds with nowhere to go. Her loss of innocence at such a young age showcases that one cannot properly mature and be mentally stable in the future. Baby loss is showcased through Jules’ lack of parental capability, her exposure to the adult world at a young age, and her struggle with herself. Adding all three together causes damage to Baby that no one should experience.