The childs inability to interpret the adult world is often central to the presentation of childhood in adult literature. Compare the presentation of childhood in Spies and Ato

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Léa West   13S                                                                                         English Literature

“The child’s inability to interpret the adult world is often central to the presentation of childhood in adult literature.” Compare the presentation of childhood in ‘Spies’ and ‘Atonement’, considering to what extent you feel this comment is applicable to these texts.

As is frequently the case with novels written for adults with children as the main protagonists, the presentation of childhood emphasises the innocence of those at a young and often tender age. When the real world is like a dream, everyday activities are play and adults are a separate species with baffling social conventions, a child will often try to understand grown up aspects of life, but will make genuine misunderstandings instead. Many writers look back on their youth with fondness and use these misunderstandings for either comic intent, such as in Frayn’s Spies, or for life-altering tragedy in McEwan’s Atonement.

In these two novels, as well as the prominence of childhood and memories being recalled as an adult, there is also the historical context to be considered in how this affects the presentation of childhood. Both novels are set during the Second World War. Life in Britain in the 1930s and 40s was an era of transition for society, during which the rise of the urban working class had led to significant changes in politics. Because of the war and the sudden absence of huge amounts of the population’s men, families as units were changing – more women were working at the same time as being mothers. However, the class system still held a firm grip on society, with every individual aware of their own status. It dictated what they would achieve or become, if anything, in life. This is shown in ‘Spies’ as Stephen feels inferior to his friend Keith. He is aware he comes from a less well off milieu and goes to a different school. In ‘Atonement’ Robbie Turner suffers all his life from the discrimination that comes with being working class and the son of the Tallises cleaning lady.

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In ‘Spies’, the character of Stephen is portrayed sympathetically, but not always sentimentally, by his older self. Humour is used frequently to invite the reader to laugh at Stephen’s inadequacies or false conclusions. But with the distance created by the maturity of the narrator, Stephen’s childhood troubles and traumas can be viewed with a sense of perspective. In the first paragraph of the novel, the narrator says, “I’m a child again and everything’s before me – all the frightening, half – understood promise of life”. Stephen is constantly fearful and held back by his crippling inability to be brave. ...

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