Читать реферат по литературе: "Children and Adults ("To Kill a Mockingbird" by H. Lee, "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4" by S. Townsend)" Страница 2


назад (Назад)скачать (Cкачать работу)

Функция "чтения" служит для ознакомления с работой. Разметка, таблицы и картинки документа могут отображаться неверно или не в полном объёме!

role models. They drink and smoke a lot, have rows all the time, are often unemployed, they get divorced and then come together again. Moreover, often he proves to be more mature than they are. Adrian writes in his diary: “Now my mother has got the flu. This means that I have to look after them both. Just my luck! I have been up and down the stairs all day. I cooked a big dinner for them tonight… they hadn’t eaten any of it.” Also he criticizes the ability of his mother to take care of the family: “My mother has not done any proper housework for days now. All she does is go to work, comfort Mr Lucas and read and smoke.” Adrian doesn’t share his mother’s feminist views and resents messy and weak character of his father. Nevertheless, Adrian loves his mother and feels hurt when she leaves his father. He blames the father for that, writing: “If my father took more care of his appearance, none of this would have happened. It stands to reason that any woman would prefer a man to wear a suit and a lot of gold jewellery to one like my father who hardly ever shaves and wears old clothes and no jewellery.” Adrian’s father is morally destroyed and plunges into drinking and spending days without any purpose. He is unable to take proper care of himself and the son (Adrian and he live without electricity or eat bag-boiled food) so Adrian has to look after him and lend him money. Even after parents’ reunion Adrian doesn’t approve of their behavior and definitely knows that he wouldn’t like to follow their footsteps. example of Adrian’s relations with adults is his taking care of an old pensioner, Bert Baxter.

At first, having this duty from Good Samaritans group, the boy feels disappointed as he discovers that Bert is not a nice old gentleman. Adrian writes: “Bert Baxter was lying in a filthy-looking bed smoking a cigarette, there was a horrible smell in the room, I think it came from Bert Baxter himself. The bed sheets looked as though they were covered in blood, but Bert said that was caused by the beetroot sandwiches he always eats last thing at night. It was the most disgusting room I have ever seen (and I’m no stranger to squalor).” Nevertheless, Adrian feels his duty and keeps visiting Bert and helping him, consequently getting attached to him. For the harsh old man he becomes a kind of grandson that he never had. Moreover, Adrian’s care and concern bring some positive change to Bert’s life: he falls in love and marries. a sensitive teenager, Adrian is constantly seeking for ways to express himself, though without much understanding from adults’ side. He tries himself in poetry but doesn’t have much success: his first poem is not appreciated by his mother (“I showed it to my mother, but she laughed. She isn’t very bright.”)

After sending poems to BBC he gets responses, encouraging yet polite refusals. Adrian’s rebellious mind also leads him to breaking school rules and organizing a “sock protest” joined by his friends.

The protest is even supported by parents but eventually fails at school. ’s relations with adults cannot be easily described. He is “a parent” for his parents but at the same time a child who needs their care and attention. He tends to look down on adults considering himself “an only intellectual in the neighbourhood” but his looks, height and body structure show that he is still an teenager.

Thus, Adrian’s diary embraces a difficult period of his life: not a child anymore and not an adult yet.



Интересная статья: Основы написания курсовой работы