“ ‘Home, Sweet Home’, that’s my motto” as well as the difficulties of raising a family. In Pooter’s context, arguments are inconsequential events and are much more low-key than those of Adrian Mole’s family. This relates to the time difference of the two texts, for example, at the present time forty per cent of marriages end in divorce, which results in the increase of the number of children raised in a single parent household, as in the context of Adrian Mole. However, in the time setting of Pooter’s diary, divorce was unheard of, as only the extremely superior and wealthy figures would be allowed to end a marriage. Charles Pooter describes his wife Caroline as “My Dear wife Carrie” which shows the stable relationship between the couple in contrast to the relationship of Adrian Mole’s parents. Adrian considers his parents to be an annoyance “Just my luck to have a mother like her” as they appear to take an immature, liberal approach to life and their responsibilities, causing Adrian to feel as if he is taking on the parental role whereas Lupin, Charles Pooter’s son thinks his parents are strict and old-fashioned. The differences in values and attitudes can also be depicted from the way in which Pooter and Adrian Mole describe home life. Adrian’s home life appears to be disruptive “There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children’s home” due to his parent’s unstable relationship. In contrast, Pooter seems to be most content when he is at home “I like to be at home. What’s the good of a home, if you are never in it?” and appears to take pride in his family and their house “We have a nice little back garden which runs down to the railway.” The same values are shared by Pooter and his wife “Home Sweet Home” as they want their home to be ideal. Superiority is also another theme associated with both texts, in which morals and attitudes of both characters can be depicted. In Pooter’s society, the male undoubtedly gained authority and power over women, who were always considered to be inferior to their husbands and other male associates. In contrast, the character of Adrian’s mother demonstrates the changing roles of women in society by controlling the marital relationship when walking out and leaving her husband for another man. Social classes are another theme found within both diaries. Adrian Mole’s family is a prime example of the stereotypical working class family; his experiences are relevant to his social settings of attending a public school, working class background, unemployed father and divorced parents. Charles Pooter however, living in the industrial age, is proud of his position in the middle-class category where he works as a clerk in the city, living in the prosperous outer suburban areas of North London reflecting his high position in social classes “I have just been a week in our new house………. a nice six-roomed residence, not counting the basement, with a front breakfast-parlour.” Pooter also mentions that he has a servant, which also represented wealth and social status.
Both extracts from the two diaries reveal changes in language over time. The authors of ‘Diary Of A Nobody’ uses lengthy, descriptive words and sentences, utilizing more nouns than in the diary of Adrian Mole to reflect Pooter’s high social status “I am always in of an evening. Our old friend Gowing may drop in without ceremony; so may Cummings, who lives opposite” whereas Sue Townsend uses much more scattered thoughts and declarative statements to reflect typical teenage speech, providing a realistic portrayal of a teenager living in an upper working class or lower middle class environment “The spot on my chin is getting bigger. It’s my mother’s fault for not knowing about vitamins.” The authoritive voice of Pooter’s character immediately place him in a higher social class than Adrian Mole as Pooter lived in a society where grammar was seen as a reflection of social class and importance. This is reflected in the way the author of Pooter’s diary delivers a thread of consistent thoughts and narrative development, providing detail, as the character appears to be proud of his written ability and has confidence that his voice will be listened to. In contrast, Adrian Mole appears to lack self-confidence as he is not familiarized with expressing his views, the writer therefore exaggerates circumstances in attempt to capture the reader’s attention “My father got the dog drunk on cherry brandy at the party last night” and capture Adrian’s naïve attitude “I will hang up my trousers” suggesting an immature approach to certain situations. The use of adverbs in ‘The Diary Of A Nobody’ enables the author to express the attitudes of Pooter’s character, and adjectives are used to provide extra detail and description “We have a little front garden”, this qualifies the information that is presented, unlike the style of writing used by Sue Townsend, which does not utilize many adverbs, adjectives or consistent nouns. This can be linked to Adrian Mole’s social class and use of typical teenage speech, just as Pooter writes in an elaborate register in attempt to make an impression and state his importance, whereas Adrian’s diary is a reflection of his true character. It is obvious that the change in moral standards and values has influenced significant changes over time in language use and through this we can determine a character’s grammatical limits.
The two author’s views and attitudes towards the diarists can be expressed through the use of language within the texts. It appears that Sue Townsend, the author of Adrian Mole’s diary takes a sympathetic approach towards the young teenager, as she seems to stereotype the character and portrays Adrian as a rather helpless person “I will not start smoking. I will stop squeezing my spots. I will be kind to the dog.” Charles Pooter draws attention to himself rather than his family life, unlike Adrian Mole who focuses on the events taking place within his home and around him “The dog got its own back on my father. It jumped up and knocked down his model ship, then ran into the garden with the rigging tangled in its feet.” The author of ‘The Diary Of A Nobody’ also makes a joke about the fact that Charles Pooter has two friends of the surnames ‘Cummings’ and ‘Gowing’ which may suggest the author is trying to ridicule Pooter’s character slightly.
