How is the world of childhood presented in 'Hide and Seek', 'Leaving School' and 'Half Past Two'?

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How is the world of childhood presented in ‘Hide and Seek’, ‘Leaving School’ and ‘Half Past Two’?

‘Hide and Seek’, ‘Leaving School’ and ‘Half Past Two’ are all about children who at one point in all the three poems are alone, uncertain and confused. In each poem the poet is writing from a different perspective. Vernon Scannell is looking back on when he was a boy, and remembers one game of hide and seek which he describes in detail. He uses the word “You” which is ambiguous. It could mean the poet is addressing the readers or he could be addressing himself as a child. The poet U.A Fanthorpe is writing describing a little boy. She takes us into his mind so we can see what happens from the child’s perspective. U.A Fanthorpe used to be a teacher so she may have been describing something that once happened when she was a teacher. Hugo Williams writes the poem ‘Leaving School’ as if he is telling the readers the story of when he went to boarding school. He uses the word “I” a lot, which gives the impression that he is talking about himself at the time when he was going through this traumatic experience.

Each of the boys in the three poems is at times confused and isolated. In ' Hide and Seek' the boy is puzzled by the fact that his friends do not come to find him and this makes him feel cut off from the world around him. "The darkening garden watches. Nothing Stirs." (We sympathize with the boy) The garden acts as a metaphor for how the boy is feeling. The boy in gets into a muddle due to his unfamiliarity with the school rules this causes him to be confused. He is confused by what the teacher is telling him. He feels alone and drifts off into his own world which disconnects him from the real world: “I wasn't listening". This makes the reader feel sorry for the boy as he would have been listening had he understood and not been so confused. Adults sometimes do not think about the age of the people they are speaking to and a lot of the time mistake the child for an adult in the way that they explain things. In 'Half-past Two' the little boy is also confused by something an adult has told him: "Stay in the school-room till half-past Two." The boy has not been taught time however, and does not dare to tell the teacher. Adults do not really think about what they are saying which does sometimes results in a child feeling confused.

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The mood of the three poems differs some-what. At the beginning of 'Leaving School' the boy is exited and looking forward to going to his new school "I thought it was going to be fun". In the middle of the poem we then see the boys exiting dream becomes more of a nightmare as he begins to feel upset, puzzled and unhappy. Also the beginning of 'Hide and Seek' the boy is happy and exited about the game he is playing. “Call out. Call loud: ‘I’m ready! Come and find me!” The use of exclamation marks shows the excitement ...

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