Depiction of Children

The depiction of children in children’s literature is so different from their depiction in adult literature. In children’s literature the stories always have some sort of whimsical element. The novels and movies that we have studied this semester really showcase that whimsicality. I believe that this element is necessary because to keep children interested having that sort of magic is important. I think that the real question is what are these novels / movies trying to say about childhood. Is it innocence, insecurity, escape from a dreary reality, a need for adventure, or is it the way children learn life lessons? The answer is that children are depicted in each way mentioned above and secondly every novel or movie focuses on one or more of these questions and answers it.

Children are innocent beings because they have no real life experience meaning the literature that they read or the movies that they see prepare them for real life. All the children we have read about during this semester have been innocent but through their experiences have learned something therefore they leave some of that childhood innocence behind. Think about the children who have gone through portals and entered new worlds. These children have learned how to adapt and have learned what’s so nice and comforting about reality. They also learn to get rid of their insecurities or learn that everyone has these insecurities and that they are not unusual but just human nature. The idea of children needing to escape a dreary reality is for those children who feel sad or unhappy. These children can then sit down with a book and escape and as for the children within the novels they usually head or are forced into the alternate reality to escape from their boring lives. Perfect examples of that are The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Coraline, Alice, and Harry Potter. Each one of these characters escaped the real world. I also think that when you are a child there are necessary things that must be done; one of those things is adventure and exploring. In many cases children love to go outside and explore and have an adventure. I think that that the exploration aspect is one of the many purposes of children’s literature because it teaches these children to go outside and play ball etc. Lastly one very important part about children’s lit is the fact that there is a lesson incorporated into the story. It now seems as though it is a requirement for those who write children’s literature. Wanting children to walk away learning something makes sense because children are learning about everything when they are young, trying to teach adults a lesson is useless because they would have already learned it or experienced it. There are several ways that these themes play out and because it’s aimed toward children the fairy tale take/option is very popular.

More specifically children are depicted through this fairytale lens. This meaning that the story follows the fairytale format and that directly correlates to the depiction of children in the novel. The fairytale format consists of a protagonist that has everything until something goes wrong enter an antagonist several events occur and then the climax followed by a resolution leaving the characters to all live happily ever after. Most critics and I see the error in this format. This format is usually unrealistic but to children that element doesn’t matter. The depiction of children is similar throughout the children’s literature genre because all the same questions are being answered and commented on leading to a streamlined account of everything.