Classic and Modern English Literature - Research Paper Example

?English Literature ic and Modern) Literature has often been described as representing human life as it is involving the sketches of real life situations. The genre of fiction or novels brings out various such instances where the characters in them really resemble to the members of one’s family. This resemblance has frequently mentioned as providing the readers a moral insight that they try to imitate or assume themselves in such positions. Though the positive influence of the novels in adults is still argumentative among the critics, they all will agree with the influence of literature on children. But the intelligentsia express divergence of opinion regarding role of modern novels in providing moral elements which may help children in their moral development. Therefore, the analysis of the moral development of little Frank in Graham Joyce’s The Facts of Life deserves greater significance as it has paved the way for grave discussions after its publication. Regarding the moral elements in modern children’s literature one can see that like William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, which portrays the moral degradation of the modern sophisticated children behaving like cannibals when they are set free from the restrictions of the elders, the modern literature, though one cannot regard the entire literary works, effectively react to the moral degradation among the children. The analysis of the moral development of Frank in The Facts of Life underlines the fact that a child will certainly be influenced with certain factors or he is moulded with the circumstances he lives in. Thus the novel actually exhorts the need of a good mother-child relationship through the seven important moments presented in the novel which lay the key stone for Frank’s character formation. Joyce’s novel has taken the characters from real life or one can call them as personal abstractions of the novelist in which the novelist could include various elements. Isabel Allende, Chilean writer with American citizenship, rightly makes an evaluation of the novel when he comments thus; "This is the kind of book I [Allende ] love to read! It's an epic saga about family, love, war, and magic. Joyce's characters are memorable. They remind me of some of my own weird relatives. I [Allende] have not been so charmed by a novel in a long time" (Amazon). The words of Allende embodies a true portrait of life in which shows how Frank, the son of Cassie, is brought up by the seven sisters under the leadership of Martha, the powerful matriarchy. The seven sisters are Aida, Beatie, Cassie, Evelyn, Ina, Olive and Una. The author has brought certain peculiarities not only in presenting the names of the characters with the vowels for first names and were starting to work their way through the consonants but also presenting them as each bearing specific characteristic traits (Vincent). The discussion on moral development can be probably begun with a close observation or the character analysis of the novel, especially the notable differences in the character of the seven sisters which can be indicated as the seven important moments in Frank’s life. Frank could imbibe their characteristic traits that in him one can see the glimpses of their behaviour. The way Joyce presents the characters make one realises their nature, though it has often been expected that describing the seven sisters’ character would be difficult. This is quite interesting note how beautifully he narrates each characters. Joyce writes, “There's Aida and her husband Gordon, the town embalmer... the spinster twins Evelyn and Ida, devotees of spiritualism... Olive, who runs a grocery store with her unfaithful husband William... Beatie, the Oxford-educated radical who lives in a commune with her lover Bernie... Una, who owns a farm with her husband Tom... and the youngest sister, Cassie, the free spirit whose casual liaisons result in her bringing a small boy, Frank, into the world” (Mesa). Thus, the reading of the novel will make one asserting that the staying of Frank with these seven sisters with the instruction of Martha, the matriarch, as Cassie, his mother showed her carelessness in treating him. This leads Frank to have the seven important moments of his life. The character formation of Frank occurs when is taken from one aunt to another with the instruction Martha, the matriarch. As he has stayed with his mother Cassie he has possessed some of his mother’s qualities. But for Cassie she inherited such special qualities from her mother Martha and one can state that “Of all her children, only Cassie possesses similar "special" abilities. Cassie's "gift" is wilder and uncontrollable and leads to "blue patches" of self-destructive depression. It is soon apparent that Frank, too, is "special," and Martha realizes he must be particularly protected” (Guran). Here the readers observe the fact that it is Martha who controls everything, especially the things concerning Frank in matters like whom should take care of him and why. Martha has specific reasons for sending Frank to her daughters. This is quite evident when Martha sends Frank to live with Una and William after he stays with her and Cassie for his first few years as she feels that the boy needs the influence of a man. The very complicated structure of a family with seven sisters and how they mould the character of Frank have colourfully narrated in the novel. Vivid and affectionately characterized, the Vines are both uniquely eccentric and a microcosm of post-war Britain (Guran). Martha sends Cassie and Frank to live with her daughter Una and her farmer-husband Tom Tufnel. Here one should also note the way Martha named her daughters. The sisters are named alphabetically by vowel, for the first five daughters, and as the vowels run out she names the remaining with consonants. This unveils Martha’s care even in minute things that one could see the same care and affection she exhibits in the case of Frank also. The second stage of Frank’s character formation occurs with Una and her twins, Evelyn and Ina who tries to exploit Frank’s abilities with spiritualistic talents. Next they live in an eccentric, intellectual, sexually "liberated," radical (and hilarious) commune in Oxford with Beatie, the sister afflicted with "too many brains," and her partner Bernard (Guran). Frank subjects for a quite different experience at the house of his aunt Aida when he began to stay with her as per the insistence of Martha. The eccentric nature of Aida’s husband Gordon makes him wondered, especially his “home office”— a small mortuary behind his house. To an extent, one can regard it as the cause for Frank’s supernatural interest. The relieving for Olive and her husband William from participating in bringing up Frank due to their familial problems denies him the opportunities to have an exact image of their nature. While observing and learning lessons from his aunts Frank finds out sufficient time to nourish his own secret desires. Throughout his peripatetic familial upbringing, Frank frequently visits the Tufnel farm -- where his great secret, the mysterious "The-Man-Behind-The-Glass," is buried in a field (Guran). This proposes the view that a child in his lifetime will be learning various things from the elders through observation and from his own personal experience. The analysis of Frank’s character formation also discloses the suppressed feelings in him as the illegitimate son of psychologically unstable mother Cassie. It may be the reason for him to inherit a fey streak that makes him receptive to precognition and restless spirits (Barns and nobles). The peregrinations of Frank and Cassie from household to household remind the British post-war experience: reflecting the pathetic state of Cassie’s siblings. Frank's supernatural experiences, which include frequent sessions with a mysterious figure he refers to cryptically as "The-Man-Behind-The-Glass," are hints that he shares his relatives' powers (Barns and nobles). This makes one infer that Frank has been influenced with the seven sisters. Frank’s and Cassie’s life with Beatie and her boyfriend Bernie in Oxford makes Frank understand the realities of commune life. Therefore, one can assume that this section of the novel exposes the strongest social criticism and highlights the social anarchy of the modern times inflicted with sexual anarchy and the ill effects of commune life. While reading the Vine family and the sisters and their upbringing of Frank, the readers feel that “Joyce covers an incredible amount of time and characters in a very short book that reads quickly and easily and yet seems to contain more material than books three times as long that take six times as long to read. It's alternately laugh-out-loud funny, touching, loving, hilarious, frightening, gripping and yet wonderfully light” (Orion and Gollancz). A close reading of the novel will certainly help the readers to explore the changes occurring in the character of Frank. The changes occur to Frank is, in a way, similar to that of the changes occurring to the children in William Golding’s popular novel Lord of the Flies. Golding’s novel exposes how the children are channelized depending on the circumstances they live in. As childhood is the time of their character formation, there should be enough care and attention from the parents to guide their children to the proper way. Golding’s novel clearly demonstrates this fact as the novelist illustrates how even the so called cultured children will become savages when they realise that they are not at all bound up in any ties. Thus, the wandering Frank grows up in a vast assortment of households that range the gamut of the 1950s so that he learns a great deal about the world around him through his not so stable aunts as the people of the Coventry area try differing means to recover and heal from the intensity of Hitler (All readers). The observation of the surroundings enable Frank to learn so many lessons that he could pursue in his future life. The picture of wounded England is clearly visible through the wanderings of Frank. Though more a series of interrelated shorts as seen through Frank's observations than a novel, the theme of Graham Joyce's deep tale is that The Facts of Life are humanity can face its darkest moment and its aftermath yet confidently start over (All readers.com.). The study of the character of Frank certainly raises the question concerning the mother-child bond. Here one should note Joyce’s own comments about Frank when he says, “Despite his unique childhood, Frank is a fairly well adjusted boy. In a sense, his life of constant change has given him the ability to understand what he can and cannot control” (Joyce). To conclude one can infer that mother-child relation has dominant influence in moulding the character formation of a child. Analysing the character of Frank it is clear that he was influenced with various factors throughout his life and the lack of his mother’s care inculcates in him some supernatural tastes which in a way demoralise his character. Therefore, one can conclude that the modern novelists should certainly select themes of this kind as helping the readers to feel the necessity of loving and caring their children to be the better citizens of the world. Works cited Amazon. Graham Joyce: The Facts of Life. Amazon.com. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. http://www.grahamjoyce.net/books/factsoflife.html All readers.com. The Facts of Life: Graham Joyce Book Review. All readers.com. 2003. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. http://www.allreaders.com/topics/Info_25847.asp Guran, Paula. The Facts of Life. Dark echo horror. 2003. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/f_rev/facts_life.html Joyce, Graham. The facts of life. Illustrated edition. Simon and Schuster, 2003. Print. Mesa, Gabe. The Facts of Life: Graham Joyce. SF Site. 2003. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. http://www.sfsite.com/05a/fl151.htm Orion, Gollancz V. The Facts of Life: Graham Joyce. 2002. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. http://trashotron.com/agony/reviews/2003/joyce-the_facts_of_life.htm The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce. Barns and nobles.com. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-facts-of-life-graham-joyce/1005264160 Vincent, Bev. Onyx reviews: The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce. Onyx reviews. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. http://www.bevvincent.com/onyx/joyce-facts.html Read More