Theories for analyzing children in literature.

One of the main theories of children’s literature is that it was not written to entertain, but to educate. The stories were made to be somewhat enjoyable so children paid attention, otherwise they would be ineffective, but the underlying purpose was always to “teach morality” (p 6, MacLeod). Writers in the 19th century believed children “needed training” and to be taught “social structure and cultural norms”, so they used the medium of literature to tell children how to “conform” (p 6-7 Sanchez-Eppler) and grow up to have “exemplary character” (p 4 MacLeod).

The reason for all of the subliminal messaging was that children were believed to be inherently bad and “impossible” (p 11 Sanchez-Eppler), and in need of constant restructuring and education. They were shown examples of children depicted as things like “evangelical missionaries” in books so they didn’t turn out to be “little heathens” in real life (p 11 Sanchez-Eppler).

In these stories of hidden moral meanings and words of warning was a theme of examples of children behaving badly and their subsequent punishments. The stories showed that bad behavior gives a person bad karma and terrible things are to be expected following any sort of mischievousness. The examples are all extreme, for example, disobeying parents and trying to sneak a cookie can almost burn your house down (MacLeod) or can cause many other near-death experiences. The examples were extreme because they are more intriguing and more memorable than depictions of children in casual situations.

The use of children in literature is considered an “outgrowth” of feminism (p15 Sanchez-Eppler) as children and motherhood are so easily linked. Also, children were used in literature to make the stories more relatable to the public. Anyone not “male, white, and American” was considered inferior and the children being treated as second class citizens “excluded from civil rights” in the stories (p16 Sanchez-Eppler) was used to be applicable to the struggles of minorities and women.

Another thing to be aware of when reading the irony in the theme of how love for all children is “trumpeted” (p7 Sanchez-Eppler) in literature but in real life children’s daily needs weren’t and still are not met and that the “juvenilization of poverty” and many more topics are completely brushed under the rug (p7 Sanchez-Eppler).