The Fifth Child Essays
The Fifth Child Essays
Essay1:
Ben Lovatt in The Fifth Child is constantly made fun and looked down upon for being different compared to the rest of his family. Ben is the fifth child of Harriet and David Lovatt. He is born two months prematurely, which causes Harriet to experience a lot of pain and suffering. Her other four pregnancies went smoothly and she experienced little pain. Ben is constantly angry at the world around him. The evil in all of mankind is represented through Ben.
Ben is treated differently from the rest of the family. Ben is muscular, yellowish and long. He is not a pretty baby. He has a heavy-shouldered hunched look with his hair growing in an unusual pattern. He had focused greeny-yellow eyes. When he was born his mother even said, “He’s like a troll, or a goblin or something (Lessing 49). Ben is never quite accepted into the world. Because of his temper tantrums and scaring of the other children David and Harriet’s family force Harriet to let Ben be institutionalized. Ben had many acts of violence such as killing a cat and a dog and breaking a girl’s arm. Harriet eventually feels guilt and brings Ben from the institution. No one is happy to see Ben return, and they all, including David, treat him harshly. No one visits their house anymore and Ben is isolated. Harriet and David are not like the normal people in the society they live in. They like spending time together as a family and being old-fashioned. They do not like violence and other things to that extent. Ben is all about those things. This is why they treat Ben so differently. When Ben gets older and goes out into the real world with his friend John, he is like a normal boy. He later joins a gang of boys and they rob people and cause disruption. Ben is actually the most popular of the group. The way Ben is treated at home by his parents and family represents the evil in mankind.
The evil and cruelty of mankind is demonstrated through the character of Ben and how he is
Essay1:
Ben Lovatt in The Fifth Child is constantly made fun and looked down upon for being different compared to the rest of his family. Ben is the fifth child of Harriet and David Lovatt. He is born two months prematurely, which causes Harriet to experience a lot of pain and suffering. Her other four pregnancies went smoothly and she experienced little pain. Ben is constantly angry at the world around him. The evil in all of mankind is represented through Ben.
Ben is treated differently from the rest of the family. Ben is muscular, yellowish and long. He is not a pretty baby. He has a heavy-shouldered hunched look with his hair growing in an unusual pattern. He had focused greeny-yellow eyes. When he was born his mother even said, “He’s like a troll, or a goblin or something (Lessing 49). Ben is never quite accepted into the world. Because of his temper tantrums and scaring of the other children David and Harriet’s family force Harriet to let Ben be institutionalized. Ben had many acts of violence such as killing a cat and a dog and breaking a girl’s arm. Harriet eventually feels guilt and brings Ben from the institution. No one is happy to see Ben return, and they all, including David, treat him harshly. No one visits their house anymore and Ben is isolated. Harriet and David are not like the normal people in the society they live in. They like spending time together as a family and being old-fashioned. They do not like violence and other things to that extent. Ben is all about those things. This is why they treat Ben so differently. When Ben gets older and goes out into the real world with his friend John, he is like a normal boy. He later joins a gang of boys and they rob people and cause disruption. Ben is actually the most popular of the group. The way Ben is treated at home by his parents and family represents the evil in mankind.
The evil and cruelty of mankind is demonstrated through the character of Ben and how he is