As it can be seen in three citations before, children characters act in a way that are not standard according to the adult because they are characterized as having lack of
knowledge. This condition brings them into the feeling of incorrectness, unfair, but they cannot do anything because of the limitation, as seen when the two children are unable
to solve the dividing problem. The knowledge which the children are lacking of in the novel mainly related to
the daily live in the woods. There are lots of descriptions about the daily life in the woods that mostly depict the technology or system that people use at that time. The
children in the story are depicted as the characters who know very little about those systems. In the first two citations below, there are depictions when Laura reacts to a
system she finds in their life. Laura is worried by the fact she found about what happened to the tree when the people cultivated it to make maple syrup 1971:124. In
the system or process, the tree should be pricked and Laura thinks that it will hurt the tree. The same thing happens when Laura sees that Pa takes honey from the bee
1971:198. She feels sad on the fact that the bees lose their honey as she says, “They worked so hard, and now they won’t have any honey” 1971:198.
Sometimes the family in the story has to face the hardness of living in the woods. The wildlife such as bear is one of the dangers for the family life. Laura and her
mother stand very close to a wild bear wandering around their house. Then Laura said, ‘Ma was it bear?’ ‘Yes, Laura,’ Ma said. ‘It was a bear.’ Laura
began to cry. She hung on to Ma and sobbed, ‘Oh, will he eat Sukey?’ ‘No,’ Ma said, hugging her. ‘Sukey is safe in the barn. Think, Laura—all those big,
heavy logs in the barn walls. And the door is heavy and solid, made to keep bears out. No, the bear cannot get in and eat Sukey.’ Laura felt better then
1971:106.
At the time Laura desperately think and worry about Sukey, the family’s cow. She is afraid that the bear will do a bad thing to Sukey. As it can be seen in the citation above,
Laura feels sad about the dangerous bear. Her lack of knowledge makes her doubt the secure condition that protects Sukey.
The lack of knowledge in characterization of children in the story also can be seen when the children deal with the new things that they find in their life. These new
things can be a new experience, or new kind of people, or on an idea about something. The following explanation will show the depiction of children characters with these
new things. The citation “Laura had never seen a wild man before. She did not know
whether she was afraid of Uncle George or not” 1971:137 is depiction of Laura that also shows the lack of knowledge. It shows when Laura faces the new thing like the
idea of wild man that appears in the character of Uncle George, Laura herself does not know what will be her reaction when she meets Uncle George.
Another lack of knowledge can be seen when Laura is depicted as asking about new things such as the story of Adam from the bible 1971:85, moon made from green
cheese 191, sugar snow 119, johnny cake 226-227, and the days of auld lang syne 237. Those things are new for Laura and she has a very little or even none of
knowledge about it. Mary is also depicted as having a lack of knowledge about the bear as can be seen in Mary’s saying, “I want the drumstick I want the drumstick”
1971:25. She says that when Pa comes back home after hunting and got a bear. Mary does not know how big the bear’s drumstick is so she wants to have it as her own.
Another example is when Laura goes with her family to a store at town. She is really amazed with the new things in the store. It is said in the story, “Laura could have
looked for weeks and not seen all the things that were in that store. She had not known there were so many things in the world” 1971:170. That shows how Laura is amazed.
It is out of her knowledge that there are so many things in the world. In the last time in their visit to the town, Laura is amazed and even frightened
about the sky that she finds as big as in this citation, “Laura had never known that the sky was so big. There was so much empty space all around her that she felt small and
frightened, ...” 1971:164. This enormous size of the sky and the empty space all around herself to sky are something new for her, or a knowledge that she is lacking of.
An idea like the concept of lying also a thing that cannot be understood by Laura. The idea of telling lies, according to Laura, can only be done by using a word.
When she is told a story about Charley, she is confused because Pa said that Charley is a liar as seen in the citation below.
She thought about what the yellow jackets had done to Charley. She thought it served Charley right, too. It served him right because he had been so
monstrously naughty. And the bees had a right to sting him, when he jumped on their home. But she didnt understand why Pa had called him a little liar. She
didnt understand how Charley could be a liar, when he had not said a word 1971:211.
As it is showed in the citation above, for Laura, Charley cannot be said as a liar since he has not said a word. Her knowledge about the concept of lying is fewer than the
common concept on it. The other thing that shows children’s lack of knowledge is the depiction of their
belief about Santa Claus. When Christmas is coming, Laura and all her cousins wait
Santa Claus by hanging their stockings in the fire place as in the citation, “But they must sleep, or Santa Claus would not come. So they hung their stockings by the fire
place, and said their prayers, and went to bed—...” 1971:67. Laura and all her cousins believe that Santa Claus will come and bring them Christmas gift. It is depicted in the
story, “They looked at their stockings, and something was in them. Santa Claus had been there” 1971:74. For them, Santa Claus is a real character and their
characterization of the lack of knowledge limits them to see the reality about it. The idea of children desire in the field of children’s literature is about the
central of children characters and its characterization. Children desire is the source of all motivation that children characters have in children’s literature text. It is the desire
that drive children to act in the children’s literature text. Based on Nodelman’s theory about children desire, it can be divided into two main points which are ignorance and
the children’s lack of knowledge. The desire is functioned as the base of all motivations in characterization of
children as it is seen in a narration, story, or texts of children’s literature. The desire in its further development will bring disobedience upon the children characters. Children
whose act is based on their own desire will become disobedient. The disobedience will bring some consequences that mostly come in the form of harmful and unpleasant
experience or situation. In this point the idea of children as the character that lacks of knowledge will support the understanding about the concept of children desire. The text
of children’s literature tends to put children in desire based action because children are also characterized as having less of knowledge.
It can be concluded that children characters in children’s literature is characterized by desire based act because they are lacking of knowledge. Moreover, the
desire will make them become disobedient characters. This idea of children desire can be seen in the characterization of the children characters in the novel. As it can be seen
in the main discussion in this part, the characters of children are characterized to act by their desire, to be disobedient characters, and having the lack of knowledge.
2. Adults Knowledge : The Ultimate Guide
a. Adults’ Possesion of Knowldege
The position of adults in children’s literature can be seen in various model of construction. According to Nodelman in his analysis about the construction in the body
of children’s literature, the position of adults can be seen in the relation to the idea of mastering the knowledge. Adults are said as the part of the construction with a
significant characteristic which is the possessing of the knowledge. This idea can be seen in his analysis on some texts of children’s literature. The following citation shows
Nodelman’s idea about the relation of adults and children in children’s literature Her ironic quotation of Rosamond’s overenthusiastic language makes clear how
greatly she distances herself from and feels superior to her daughter’s impulsive and childlike thoughtlessness. She directly states her conviction that having
knowledge—gained through careful examination of the world—is a corrective to the dangers of impulse and childishness 2008:33
The citation above is taken from Nodelman’s analysis on one of the children’s literature, Rosamond’s The Purple Jar. Based on his analysis, Nodelman concludes that
adult characters tend to have knowledge or know better than children in many aspects.
The idea of adults having knowledge is the idea that adults are being corrective than the characters of children.
In this part the focus of the discussion is about the knowledge that is possessed by adults. The concept of knowledge in this analysis refers to the common knowledge
in daily life or the ability to know or of understanding which mostly is mastered in a better way by adult characters than children characters. As Nodelman says, “Quite
simply, adult knowledge is knowledge, and in being represented as the opposite of adult knowledge, childlike or animal wisdom can only be understood as a lack, a
deficiency—a state of bliss defined by what is absent from it” 2008:44. Character of children is lacking of knowledge that belongs to adults and they are characterized as
having the other knowledge as childlike or animal wisdom which also can be said as the desire.
In the novel, the adults knowledge can be seen in some categories. The idea about knowledge is manifested in the form of mannerism, wisdom of act, daily life
skill, and the common knowledge. The following part is the discussion about adult possession of knowledge that can be seen in some forms.
As can be seen in the novel, the people who live at that time have their own mannerism. There are rules about the way of speaking and word choosing. In the
following quotation Laura is directed by his mother to speak or to behave in a certain way, “Can’t I go out to play, Ma?’ Laura asked, and Ma said, ‘’May,’ Laura.
1971:118.” In the citation below, Laura is directed to be polite by saying thank you.
Laura could not speak. Everybody was waiting, and she could not make a sound. Ma had to ask her: ‘What do you say, Laura?’ Then Laura opened her
mouth and gulped and whispered, ‘Thank you.’ 1971:171
As an adult, Ma is the one who knows how to use proper language that fits to the society and its correct manner. It is the adult who possess this knowledge. By seeing the
story and the characters’ characterization, this fact can be found. The knowledge of mannerism is also about behavior. This form of knowledge
can be seen in the novel when Ma says, “Laura, aren’t you going to let the other girls hold your doll? ... Little girls must not be so selfish” 1971:77. This citation shows that
Ma as an adult possesses knowledge about the behavior of a little girl. According to the knowledge one way to be a little girl is to avoid the act of being selfish.
Another adult in the story, Pa, also plays the same rule, as seen in the citation below. Pa is characterized s an adult who possesses the knowledge of mannerism. The
citation below shows a conversation between Pa and his two daughters. ‘But why couldnt the little cat—‘ Mary began.
‘Because the big cat wouldnt let it,’ Laura interrupted. ‘Laura, that is very rude. You must never interrupt,’ said Pa. 1971:23
The conversation is about the little cat and the big cat, at some point in the dialog a
children character, Laura is making an interruption. Pa tells Laura about the impoliteness of interrupting. This situation shows that Pa knows more than Laura
about how to behave, in this case, how to state opinion. The other examples about knowledge in mannerism can be seen in the following
citations. Adult characters are characterized as the person who can give reward or punishment due to their domination of the knowledge as seen in “Pa said if he had been
Uncle Henry, he would have tanned that boys hide for him, right then and there” 1971: 205. Pa shows his own idea about what should be done on a spoiler boy.
Therefore Pa possesses the knowledge about the punishment. Adult characters are shown as a person who possesses the wisdom to act. They
know what the best thing to do, what the best thing to say, and what the best moment to do it. In the following citation, an adult character, Uncle George shows the right way of
act. “Uncle George looked at her and laughed. Then he caught her by the hand and did a little dance with her, in the corner. She likes Uncle George” 1971:146. Uncle
George knows that Laura want to dance therefore he caught her by the hand and dance with her. The possession of knowledge enables him to act in a certain way that brings a
good effect to the children. Aunt Lotty, one of Laura’s aunts in the novel, as it can be seen in the citation
below, makes a wise consideration about the girl’s hair. She has a knowledge that makes her able to create a fair opinion when the girls ask about their hair.
‘Which do you like best, Aunt Lotty,’ Mary asked, ‘brown curls, or golden curls?’ ... Laura waited to hear what Aunt Lotty would say, and she felt
miserable. ‘I like both kinds best,’ Aunt Lotty said, smiling 1971:180.
Mary asks Aunt Lotty about her hair and Laura’s hair. The situation is competitive; the children want the adult to tell them which one of them is having the best hair. The
children know that adults’ opinion is a truth that they can believe. Moreover, adults possess a knowledge that makes them capable of making a wise decision. It is a
decision that will reduce the harmful effect. As we can see in the story, Aunt Lotty
answers by saying that she likes both kinds of the hair best. This opinion prevents the children to have a negative judgment upon each other.
The life in the wood, as seen in the story, mostly consists of a hardship of daily work. The people should master some skill to fulfill the daily life requirements. The
adult characters are characterized as person who masters the skill to live in the woods. They have the required knowledge to establish a family life in the woods. In the
excerptions below, Pa is called as knowing and mastering the skill of hunting and farming. He hunts the deer and takes care of the meat as seen in, “Pa had shot the deer
the day before... Pa skinned the deer carefully and salted and stretched the hides, for he would make soft leather of them. Then he cut up the meat, and sprinkled salt over the
pieces as he laid them on a board 1971:5-6”. Pa also masters a skill that relates to the hunting, which is making bullet, as seen in, “So they put their fingers in their mouths to
cool them, and watched Pa make more bullets” 1971:46. Pa’s other skill is taking the honey and farming. He knows how to take honey
from the bees without being stung 1971:197. The farming skill is about planting carrot 1971:216. All in all, Pa is described as an adult with the ability of explaining
the things that happen in the nature as seen in the following citation. Laura was sorry for the poor bees. She said: They worked so hard, and now
they wont have any honey. But Pa said there was lots of honey left for the bees, and there was another large, hollow tree near by, into which they could
move. He said it was time they had a clean, new home 1971:198.
As an adult character, Pa possesses a great number of knowledge especially about the skill of life in the wood. The knowledge is important since it is the main skill to
maintain daily life in the woods.
