I stumbled upon this book in my mother's classroom. It's a pretty basic read meant for a younger audience, but I found myself more interested than I would have been had I not been taking this course. It is about a young girl living in the safety of a valley after the world (to her knowledge) has been destroyed by what is implied to be a nuclear war. As far as she knows, she is the only person left. But then a survivor comes, an older man, and she realizes that there are things more frightening than being the last person alive.
I read this in grade school for summer reading. It wasn't a bad read to my memory, though it can be frustrating to read the main character sympathizing with the man, who is almost unbelievably evil.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how apocalyptic narratives like this one figure into the development of a child's psyche, or a child's sense of self in a larger world. Are such pedagogically strategic apocalyptic narratives designed to insulate, indoctrinate, expose—or something else altogether?
ReplyDeleteI believe they are meant to instill fear the same way that religion might teach a respect for a god through fear. Also to expose a sort of danger that adults have learned to see already. Almost like teaching a secret message in braille to these children who read narratives such as this one. I definitely believe that a novel like this will shock a child's sense of how infinitely small they are in a world where everyone is not always "good."
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ReplyDeleteI've noticed through things such as video games and movies, children are being exposed to more and more ideas of an apocalypse. My friend shared with me earlier this week that her younger brother's favorite movie is Dawn of the Dead and he's only 9. I think this exposure to an apocalypse doesn't inspire fear or paranoia in children but rather gives them a deeper understanding of how finite their existence is. Some would venture to say that statements such as "The world will always be around" is a dangerous statement and I would agree because it doesn't allow room for people to consider themselves as humans as a whole and in turn will make them depreciate the value of what we can learn from past generations. When children understand that they too will one day cease to be, they will not only learn to appreciate their existence more but the existence of those who came before them. It also might inspire them to seize the day and make the most out of their lives.
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