Comparison of Goggle-Eyes and The Railway Children - Case Study Example

Narrative techniques in Goggle-Eyes and The Railway Children Literary works assume greatness with the use of distinctive narrative styles. Narrative styles refer to the way in which the speaker or the narrator who reveals the plot or the story to the readers. The characteristic might be anything as simple as first person or third person narration and might lie in even minute details. The two works used for the analysis of narrative styles in the paper are The Railway Children by E. Nesbit and “The Goggle eyes by Anne Fine. Both stories depict the lives of children in the wake of different circumstances. Despite this similarity there are many differences as well especially with the style of writing. The difference in the narrative styles mainly lies in the fact that one is a drama where dialogues are more important and the other is a prose narrative with mix of poetic verses. Apart from the narrative style, the theme and characterization of the “mother” also differ. However all the differences are highlighted through this basic difference in styles. In ‘The Railway Children’, Nesbit narrates in the form of a prose with intermittent verses that make the characters come alive. The story is about three children (Roberta, Peter and Phyllis) who undergo a transformation in their lives and how they adjust to it is the center of the plot. The children are left alone with their mother when their father is supposedly on a business trip. However the author narrates mainly from the viewpoint of the children and does not give out any information, which the children do not know. Their mother’s name is not mentioned and the woman is referred as ‘Mother’. This again emphasizes that the story is written mainly from children’s viewpoint. The author also imposes his preference of character on another character. For instance, the narrator reflects upon the preferences of the Mother by saying, “Of course, Mothers never have favourites, but if their Mother HAD had a favourite, it might have been Roberta. Next came Peter, who wished to be an Engineer when he grew up; and the youngest was Phyllis, who meant extremely well” (Nesbit, 2008). Again though this is mainly a first person narrative, the author at times brings in his own opinion about the characters. For instance, the author opines about Roberta the eldest child, saying, “I hope you dont mind my telling you a good deal about Roberta. The fact is I am growing very fond of her. The more I observe her the more I love her. And I notice all sorts of things about her that I like” (Nesbit, 2008). Thus, the personal preference of the author has a chance to influence the mind of the readers. However the narrator is a carefull one as he gives support for his opinion. He narrates incidents and the role of Roberta in different situations in order to justify the character of Roberta and to justify the love or likeness of the narrator towards her. Roberta is portrayed as responsible andbrave and so are the other children. So they want to do a teamwork always. The poems presented here are supposed to be composed by any of the characters in the play. Therefore these have been used to make the characters come alive. The descriptions are vivid with proper adjective and create visualisation effect. The narrator gives an hint of the future events beforehand. For instance he mentions the toy which is peter gets on his birthday – it is a railway engine full of ‘charm’. This is an indication of their oncoming life spent at the railways and the enjoyment they expereince despite their financial crisis. Thus in most of the cases the readers would understand the hint and expect a change. For instance initially the narrator prepares the readers for a change saying, “And so they were, but they did not know HOW happy till the pretty life in the Red Villa was over and done with, and they had to live a very different life indeed.” (Nesbit, 2008) Again when they get down the train to move to their new house, the narrator says, “They did not guess then how they would grow to love the railway, and how soon it would become the centre of their new life, nor what wonders and changes it would bring to them” (Nesbit, 2008). Here again the readers are prepared for a new set of adventures at the raiwlays. Thus, the novel is a simple narrative which is straightforward in terms of framework. It is “a sequential narrative of 14 chapters with an orientation, complication, climax and resolution.  The narrator is omniscient, with occasional patronising intrusions” (Hill, 2009) “Goggle Eyes” by Anne Fine is a drama that related to a family. The essence is therefore put on the dialogues and interactions between the characters. In such a literary piece, the narrator often has no direct and major role. The narrator interferes at times to describe the actions and scenes with a couple of lines but hardly has a chance to impose his opinion like the case of ‘The Railway Children’ where the narrator expressed his views. The narrator describes the mood of the person in the middle of the dialogues. For example, the dialogues of Kitty in the first part of the play are full of hatred for Gerald. During the progression of the story, the character of Kitty goes through a gradual transformation and comes to accept Gerald as a part of their family. The main character of the story seems to be Kitty. She lives up to her billing and controls the mood of the play. Fine applies many literary tools like point of view, theme, settings and characterization in order to direct the response of the readers. The protagonist or the central character here is Kitty. Unlike the case of the previous story, here the readers would feel and think along with the protagonist. In the previous case the narrator was controlling the mind of the readers but in this case the character of Kitty plays a strong role and the play is unfurled from her point of view. So this is a first-person point of view unlike the previous one. The essay Kitty writes on Gerald, her mother’s boyfriend is the most important part, which introduces the readers to the characters and reveals the dislike that Kitty bears towards him. She calls him ‘goggle eyes and addresses him as ‘it’ (Fine, 1995, p.12). This character and the first person view has been effectual throughout the story because the readers would think and feel like her. The character of Kitty seems to be reliable and at the readers cannot help but agree with her viewpoint at times especially when she calls him a “political Neanderthal”. She has great insights and wisdom to understand a character and respond to a situation. To some extent she might be compared to Roberta. However her viewpoint about ‘goggle eyes’ changes gradually when she found him sensible and sensitive towards them and their mother. She regrets that she had taken an early presumption towards Gerald. The setting is in England, similar to the previous story. The play focuses on the conflicts, which arise between the characters and the growth of character, which is brought about. Kitty is a dynamic character in this case. Lukens differentiates a round character form a dynamic character as, “a round character is one that we know well, who has a variety of traits that make him or her believable" and a dynamic character as "a round character who changes”” (Lukens, 2007, p.82). He also rationalizes that, “we must have these flat characters to help carry the action, to show how the central character behaves or relates to others, to make the setting a believable place” (Lukens, 2007, p.82). Along with the conflicting emotions within Kitty, the readers also change their opinions about the characters in the play. In this story the setting is not very important because it could have been taken place at any other place as well. This is unlike the other case where setting has played an important part with respect to the incidents, the law and the descriptions of the backgrounds. Both the books are for the children and discuss the sentiments of the children. The books have one common theme – absence of the fathers. Therefore, naturally their mother takes the center stage. In the case of The Railway Children the father has been condemned of criminal charges and this compels the children to live with their mother in a secluded village. The main form of entertainment is the railway station and the children happily indulge in it. The main factor for the happiness of the children is their mother who holds the family together in the time of distress. The characterization of the mother in the novel underlines the gentleness and the calmness of the character along with the immense strength. The narrator has been successful in drawing a character of woman of substance with the help of his narration. Her dialogues bring out the sentiments of the character. In the novel, she seldom talks to the children about their father. In the case of Goggle Eyes the narrator has based the story in the form of a play. The role of the mother in the play is quite different from that of the other one. The incident is a common one where the children face the dilemma upon the choice of a new father. They are not open to the prospect of calling an unknown person a father. This happens with Kitty in the play. The mother in the play however was interested in marriage and in gaining attention towards herself instead of her children and their needs. This is understandable because of the absence of a father figure in life. The narrative of the play, did not involve the role of the mother to that extent. The main character of the play was Kitty. However, the small appearances of the mother in supporting Gerald was enough to give the expression that the mother was perhaps, more interested in starting a new life with Gerald than looking after her children. This is the essential difference in the themes of the stories. However the main difference stems from the fact that the former is a prose essentially while the later is a play. In a play the reader experiences more emotional ups and downs while in a story especially where narrator plays an important role, the incidents and changes are often expected. Here lies the basic difference. The literary devises used in Goggle-eyes are typical to that of a play, while the approach of ‘The Railway Children’ is very normal for a prose. However Goggle Eyes was initially written as a novel, which underwent some changes in order to make it a play. The essays written by Kitty are used to reflect the changes of emotions and experiences undergone by Kitty and their impact on the readers. She is a person who expresses her emotions through essays. Her essays play more important role in indicating the swings in emotions than the verses in The Railways Children. The verses also bring the characters to life but are not very crucial parts of the play. Finally we may conclude that all details stem from the basic narrative style used in any of the works undertaken for the analysis. For instance, the play ‘Goggle eyes’ owing to its very nature of narration gives more importance on the dialogues, tone and interactions, which reflect the change in mood and emotions. Again in the case of the novel ‘The Railway Children’ the author or the narrator speaks on behalf of the children most of the times and sometimes even enforces his opinion and makes the readers think similarly. Unlike this in the play the narrator spends more effort in designing the character of Kitty and making it genuine and strong enough such that the readers will automatically agree with her. The characters are not idealistic in nature but are portrayed as more realistic. In the novel the characters are painted idealistically. This is why the narrator’s opinion about the characters is more important in this case. Finally we find how the other elements like the devices and approach of narration changes along with narrative styles. References: 1. Fine, A. (1995). The Play of Goggle Eyes. London: Heinemann Eduactional Publishers. 2. Nesbit, E. (November 6, 2008). The Railway Children. Gutenberg Ebook, available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1874/1874-h/1874-h.htm (accessed on June 7, 2010) 3. Lukens, R.J. (2003) A critical handbook of childrens literature, California: Allyn and Bacon. 4. Hill, L. (2009). The Railway Children, by Edith Nesbit, Available at: http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/the-railway-children-by-edith-nesbit/ (accessed on June 7, 2010)   Read More