Arthur C. Clarke's Childhoods End Essay

The author’s use of characters allowed the reader

He also learned a lesson from his mistakes which ultimately creates a catharsis in the reading

Yet, he comes to realize that these stories are what define the man he is today. These stories to him are the truth, his truth of his own past and a reminder to him that those things actually happened. His stories to him serves as a reminder of what he did and did not know, and what he became or what he did not

This is a very important part of the book because it shows the reader that the

In the opening pages of the text, we are introduced to the main characters through the believable and

authors stories can have a different meaning than what the author had intended for it to have. In

Having each story been written in a third-person narrative form, the reader knows the innermost feelings of the

Another reason why the book is so worthwhile to read is that it captures another aspect of the human story:

Throughout the history of childhood development poor social and economic conditions contributed to the many hardships and poor treatment of children. During the early Middle Ages the "paternalist" family concept evolved and the father had authority and control over family matters including the welfare and safety of his wife and children. Discipline was severe, young children both poor and wealthy were subjected to strict rules and regulations and often beaten if disobedient. Children took on the responsibilities of adults at an early age, sharing in the work of siblings and parents. Girls from affluent families were educated at home and married in their teens. Some males were educated at a monastery and others became apprentices to

The epistolary structure of the novel and the subsequent use of multiple narrators forces the reader to judge for themselves what is true and what is dramatized from the letters. Due to the story being retold from the point of view of Victor the reader is more likely to understand why Victor and Walton deem the monster a malevolent and insensitive brute.

as a narrator so he himself can enter the story and tell it out of his own

is portrayed and how it relates to the moral of the story – if, in fact, there is one.

Childhood is usually understood as a set of experiences and behaviours, gained in the early stages of the human existence, considered as the preparation for the adult world. However, the history of childhood is a very complex topic and it has become a very influential area of study in recent years. In 1962, the ‘Centuries of Childhood’ by Philippe Ariés introduced the idea that childhood was a new creation developed in recent centuries and as a concept it was believed to be nonexistent before the seventeenth century. This concept means that there was no awareness of the process of childhood. In several studies of the medieval period, Ariés noticed that childhood was not acknowledged or even attempted to be portrayed during this period. For

The book had affected the narrator to a great extent. At first he did not care for the book, until the stranger selling Bibles said “the number of pages in this book is literally infinite. No page is the first page; no page is the last”. This intrigued the narrator’s mind. After he had bought the book, he began investigating. He noted down things in the book. He began losing sleep from the investigation and when he actually got sleep, his dreams were about the book. As it states in the short story, “At night, during the rare intervals spared me by insomnia, I dreamed of the book”. He had grown an obsession with the book, which altered his lifestyle and forced him to hide the book in the library.

Yet readers who stop to ask themselves exactly why they enjoyed the novel, what makes it work, will find themselves looking at a very complex book that means much