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.
Moreover, in the story, Ma is the adult character who masters the skill of the daily work in the house. While Pa mostly works outside the house, such a hunting and
farming, Ma is the one who spends her entirely day time in the house. In the following citation, Ma describes the daily task of the house in a song. “Ma used to say: ‘Wash on
Monday, Iron on Tuesday, Mend on Wednesday, Churn on Thursday, clean on Friday, Bake on Saturday, Rest on Sunday’” 1971:29. Ma not only takes care about the food,
she is also able to produce the clothing for the family. “Ma chose two patterns of calico to make shirts for Pa, and a piece of brown denim to make him a jumper. Then she got
some white cloth to make sheets and underwear” 1971:170. The other female character like Aunt Polly is also showed as having the
knowledge for daily life in the woods. As it can be seen in citations below, Aunt Polly is able to handle the problem of bees attack when Charley is stung by the bees.
Ma and Aunt Polly covered his whole face with mud and tied the mud on with cloths. Only the end of his nose and his mouth showed. Aunt Polly steeped
some herbs, to give him for his fever. 1971: 209 Most of the daily life skills in the woods that relates to the food producing,
cooking, and health are mastered by the adult women characters. These adults possess this kind of knowledge, and as it can be seen in the story, the knowledge play important
part in their daily life. The knowledge and the understanding of almost about everything are in the
hand of the adults. This knowledge enables them to explain everything that the children asked. The knowledge comes from their process of experience. In the citation below it
is seen that Pa explains about the sugar snow based on the knowledge that he has from his own experience.
‘Why is it a sugar snow, Pa?’ she asked him, but he said he didnt have time to explain now. ... After supper, Pa took them on his knees as he sat before the fire,
and told them about his day at Grandpas, and the sugar snow.”
In the citation above, Pa answers his children’s question by telling the story about his past time. It is a time when he stayed with his father. The knowledge that he has at the
present time is gained in the past time. Pa learns about the knowledge from the other adults.
Another form of knowledge is when the adult characters answer children’s questions. In the story, children tend to ask about the new thing that they do not
understand. The adult in the story is characterized as having the knowledge to answer all of these questions. In the following citation below, Laura and Mary ask about the
new machine that they see. Afterward Laura and Mary asked questions, and Pa told them that the big
machine was called the separator, and the rod was called the tumbling rod, and the little machine was called the horsepower 1971:223.
At the other part of the story, Laura asked about the term ‘auld lang syne’,
“‘What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?’ ‘They are the days of a long time ago, Laura,’ Pa said 1971:237”. She also asks about the story of Adam from the Bible, “Did Adam
have good clothes to wear on Sundays?’ Laura asked Ma. ‘No,’ Ma said. ‘Poor Adam, all he had to wear was skins’ 1971:85.” Sometime the questions come out from the
children’s imagination as when Laura asks about the moon, “’Is the moon really made
of green cheese?’ Laura asked, and Ma laughed. ‘I think people say that, because it looks like a green cheese,’ she said” 1971:191.
The questions from children are almost about everything. Adults are able to provide answer of any question, as shown in those examples above. As seen in the
novel, adults knowledge consists of some forms as mannerism, wisdom of act, daily life skill, and the common knowledge. In children’s literature the access to the knowledge
is possessed by the adult characters. Therefore the children characters see the adult characters as the source of knowledge, the one with a better understanding about life
and anything than the children.
b. Adults’ Attempt to Educate Children
Nodelman believes that the text of children’s literature shows the implication of the role of adults with their knowledge. Adults, in the relation with the children, tend to
put their position as the protector and the guide of the children. As it can be seen in the excerption below, Nodelman says that in children’s literature, children characters need
to accept the guidance and protection from the adults. In this process of acceptance, the children become less childlike because they have gained the knowledge that the adults
have. The texts often insist that children continue to need adult protection even though
or even because, they have been wise enough to acknowledge and accept adult interpretations of their behavior, the acceptance of which in effect makes them
less childlike and therefore less in need of the protection they now are wise enough to acknowledge their need of 2008:78.
The guidance and protection from adult to children are the process of transferring knowledge or the stage where children are educated to be more like adults.
This is the point of the idea about adults’ attempt to educate children that will be discussed in this part.
The rules, standards, or messages that the adult characters want to say to the children are based on their basic need of transforming their knowledge to the children.
They want the children to become like themselves, to be adults. Therefore, to accomplish this intention, they should change what the children have in their mind
which is to act based on their desire. They introduce a point of view that the children should adapt within themselves.
The following citation shows the way adults produce standard, and rule for the children. The standards are made based on their possession of knowledge. Grand Pa in
the following citation, tells Little Pa about the safety and the benefit of obedience. He says that a terrible thing will not happen to Little Pa if he has listened and do as he had
been told by Grand Pa. ‘ ‘Theres a good reason for what I tell you to do,’ he said, ‘and if youll do as
youre told, no harm will come to you. ... if you’d obeyed me as you should, you wouldn’t have been put in the Big Woods after dark, and you wouldn’t have
been scared by a screech-owl’ ’ 1971:58. Ma and Uncle Peter, as adult characters, wish children to act or behave based
on the standard that adults have constructed. Laura is told by her mother to act in a certain way as seen in “Ma said, ‘Laura, aren’t you going to let the other girls hold your
doll?’ She meant, ‘Little girls must not be so selfish’” 1971:77. Ma’s instruction is an
adults guidance for Laura. The other instruction comes from Uncle Peter who asks the children if they have behaved nicely, as it shown in the citation below.
‘Well, well’ Uncle Peter said. ‘Isnt there even one stocking with nothing but a switch in it? My, my, have you all been such good children?’ ... ‘You mustnt
tease the children, Peter,’Aunt Eliza said. 1971:77 Little Pa and Laura, or the other children might not behave as what the adults
want. Their acts are based on their desire as children. The rules from adults tend to change their mind. These rules come in the form of instruction and guidance. The aim
of the guidance is the children characters should be a person as what an adult wants, and thus to be less childlike.
The attempt of adults is basically about the transformation in children’s way of thinking. The attempt is designed to bring children out of their own point of view.
Children, as Nodelman says, base their thought on their desire. In the following citation, it can be seen that Laura follows her desire that is dominantly filled by her
emotion and feeling of competition. Laura grabbed the biggest chip, and Mary said: ‘I don’t care. Aunt Lotty likes
my hair best, anyway. Golden hair is lots prettier than brown.’ … She could not speak, so she reached out quickly and slapped Mary’s face 1971:183.
The act of slapping is not accepted in the adult’s point of view. In the citation above, Laura’s violent act is a way to express her dislike. As the result of her act and as
children character Laura faces the truth that her action is considered as a wrong thing. The adults in the story appear as the guide. This guide will give a direction about the
right thing to do or not to do. Then she heard Pa say, Come here, Laura. She went slowly, dragging her feet.
Pa was sitting just inside the door. He had seen her slap Mary. You remember,
Pa said, I told you girls you must never strike each other. Laura began, But Mary said— That makes no difference, said Pa. It is what I say that you
must mind” 1971:184.
The citation above is the situation that Laura should face as the results of her misbehavior. The guidance of adults is come in the form of strict rule. The children
character should obey this rule. What Pa says is something that the children must mind. The opinion or consideration that is made by Aunt Lotty, as it can be seen in the
citation below, is based on the same problem which is the competition of Laura and Mary on their physical appearance.
‘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.
Previously, it is seen that Laura acts by her own desire. Aunt Lotty’s opinion which gives the equal likeness for both of the children’s hair makes the competition is
controlled by the opinion of adults. The children in the story follow the opinion as an instruction and also as a truth therefore they change their point of view that is mainly
based on their desire. In children’s literature, children are put in certain position where they have to
follow the standard that was made by adults. Nodelman says that giving in to your desires gets you into trouble, and you should try to know as much as adults do in order
to protect yourself from danger 2008:35. The above citation shows that children desire will bring them into trouble. Therefore they need help which come from adults.
The help from adults is the knowledge that furthermore will develop the children and provide them with the ability to avoid the unpleasant thing. Moreover, the guidance that
come from the adult knowledge can be seen as the attempt of adult to make the children became more like adult and less childlike.
In Nodelman’s theory, the adult characters are characterized as persons who possess the knowledge. The knowledge in this analysis refers to the common
knowledge in daily life or the ability to know or of understanding about things in life. The analysis on the characterization of adult characters in the story and the application
of Nodelman’s idea on adults knowledge reveal some results. The idea of adults knowledge in adult characters in the novel can be classified into some categories. The
categories in the classification are mannerism, wisdom of act, daily life skill in the woods, and the common knowledge. The adult characters in the story possess those
types of knowledge which play an important role in their daily life. Adults characters, in children’s literature text, in the relation with the children
and their possession of knowledge, tend to put their position as the protector and the guidance of the children. This position makes them become the source of knowledge,
and rule for the children. Adults are the place for children to ask about anything, yet they are also the controller of the children. This role of protector, guide and controller
actually are based on the idea of transferring the knowledge to the children. Adults’ attempt to educate children is to make the children become less childlike. The attempt
is done by transferring the knowledge or in other word by educating the children to be more like the adults. The adults’ attempt to educate children can be seen in the analysis
on the adult characters in the novel.
