Magical Realism in Thursday's Child

Magical Realism in Thursday’s Child Magical Realism centers on Tin Flute in Thursday’s Child by Soyna Harnett. Magical realism is a literary genre where magical elements are a natural part to a rather realistic, dull setting. The title of the book comes from a nursery rhyme with the same title. Thursday’s Child is Tin, who was born on a Thursday and as the nursery rhyme says, “he has far to go.” Tin is an eccentric and isolated child who digs. His wanderings take him underneath the earth into the concealed tunnels that he is pre-destined to roam. The story is told by Tin’s older sister, Harper, and it is a story of their families struggle during The Great Depression. Tin is a myth because he has noted heroic digging abilities, a nonhuman but definitive appearance, and illimitable intelligence. Tin’s boundless digging skills prove he is a myth because it is unnatural for someone his age to build such an advanced labyrinth. When Tin first starts digging, Mrs. Murphy reacts by saying, “It isn’t natural and I won’t let anyone say it is. A child needs fresh air and the sun on his head” (31). She argued that Mam should not be allowing Tin to dig because it is not healthy for him to not have sunlight and fresh air. Sunlight provides the body with nutrients like Vitamin D, and lack of these can cause serious diseases like rickets. When industrialization occurred, many workers, including children, suffered problems from the lack of sunlight. In fact, a child could not live underground for so long without exposure to sun and not develop any health problems. Also, Tin could not have survived in his tunnels because the air quality was probably polluted with numerous chemicals. Tin would have needed fresh air in order to survive. Society has been concerned with the health risks of mining because the miners are exposed to contaminated air, and they cannot stay underground for long because it is not healthy to be breathing the polluted air for an extended amount of.