One of Lee’s major influences was that of his mother, a whole chapter is devoted to her. He had a warm and loving relationship with his mother. Lee trusted and admired her, when the stranger appeared in the kitchen Lee writes “but he was no tramp or he wouldn’t be in the kitchen” and “he was a soldier, because mother said so”. This tells us how much influence his mother had over him.
The security he felt from his mother was shown by her sharing a bed with him, as a young child making him feel special from the others and so secure. His mother was silent while his sisters told him he had to move into his brother’s bed “for a bit” when he got older, he was promised that he would return later to her bed. He never did return to her bed, and he described this as the “first betrayal”. In return he says “I grew a little tougher, a little colder, and turned my attention more to the outside world, which was now emerging visibly through the mist”. When Lee says he grew a little tougher, to me, it sounds as if he thought that this betrayal of not been allowed to sleep in his mother’s bed was the end of the world. I also get the impression by his statement that he is growing up and that he has realised that there are other things in life for him to explore.
As the innocence and naivety wore off, Lee began to take an interest in the opposite sex, namely Jo, who was a classmate. She used to strip off her clothes and allow Lee to examine her body. The way Lee uses metaphors and described her body is in great detail; “Her body was pale and milk green on the grass, like a birch-leaf lying in the water, slightly curved like a leaf, smoother than candle skins”. I think this was just innocent curiosity on his behalf because in Lee’s school days, sex education was not heard of and he had to understand how girls were different to boys. The chapter’s title “First bite of the apple” is both a cheerful reference to Lee’s first draught of Rosie’s hard apple cider and his subsequent fall from innocence. I think his first sexual encounter was with Rosie who enticed him with Cider, his first taste and a new experience. He drank and became drunk. Afterwards he says “I felt like a giant; I swung from the trees and plunged my arms into nettles to show her”. This is the moment in Lee’s life that he changes from a boy into a man. This encounter with Rosie was obviously a key theme in his childhood as why would he put this memory as the title. Was it because at this time in his life he finally became a man, signifying the end of his childhood? This is arguable.
Laurie Lee has written about his childhood as he saw it because it is an autobiographical novel that describes his childhood and growing up of the nation. The book has a detailed account of a childhood that seemed filled full with fun, adventure and typical childhood mischief. I enjoyed this book because Lee’s childhood was similar and different to mine in so many ways. Similar by the way of innocence, and being loved by my family unconditionally, having fun with friends (getting up to mischief) and different by the way of family structure, having two parents, a monthly income, order and tidiness in the house.
