controller who moves silently and is unseen in their home, though they “were cosy and comfortable in their little house…”? Wilder, 1932:44.
To find the answers, this study observes the characterization of the characters in the novel, and the focus is put on the way children and adults are characterized. In
order to see this particular way, the writer applies Nodelman’s theory of children desire and adults knowledge in children’s literature. Little House in the Big Woods is
chosen by its position as an important work of children’s literature. The study focuses on the element of characterization to discuss the pattern of relation of children and
adults. It is also conducted to find a deeper explanation on the identification of the book as the significant work of children’s literature. Nodelman’s idea on children
desire and adults knowledge in children’s literature is used to support the study in discussing the topic.
b. Problem Formulation
There are two problems formulated in this study. The two problems are as follows.
1. How are the characters of children and adults depicted in Wilder’s Little
House in the Big Woods ?
2. How does the characterization of children and adults show the idea of children
desire and adults knowledge in the novel?
c. Objective of the Study
Concerning the problem formulation that has been stated previously, the first objective of this study is to find out how children and adults are characterized in
Little House in the Big Woods . The second objective is to find out how the
characterization of children and adults in Little House in the Big Woods shows children desire and adults knowledge children’s literature.
d. Definitions of Terms
This part presents the definitions of several terms used in this study. The presentation of the definitions is intended to avoid misinterpretation of the intended
meaning of the terms. 1.
Child pl. Children The definition of children in this study is taken from the fields of development
psychology in relation to Nodleman’s notion of children and childhood in texts of children literature. Nodelman bases his notion of children and childhood in texts of
children’s literature on child psychology. According to Nodelman, the definition of children is based on two main categories. The first one is the children’s book and
books of child psychology, and the second category is the personal version of any adults based on their childhood memories.
“The parallel ‘classical texts’of childhood fall into two categories. First there are written descriptions of children of earlier times, not just the ‘classic’
childrens books but also the classic texts of child psychology—Piaget, Vygotsky, Kohlberg. Second, there are our personal versions of our own
childhoods: what we identify as childhood memories” Nodelman, 1992:33.
He also states the idea of childhood is “equally stable in the works of child psychologists, writers of childrens fiction, and childrens literature specialists.”
1992:31. According to Nodelman, the fields quoted above share the same idea about childhood. Description or definition of children can be seen in texts such as the text
of children’s literature and child psychology. As such, this study applies the concept of childhood from this psychology point of view.
In psychology, child is a person included in childhood age. Childhood means period between infancy and adolescence. Childhood is divided into two parts; early
childhood and middle childhood. Early childhood is age period 3 to 6 years and middle childhood 6 to 11 years. In this study, the term of child refers to a person that
is included to childhood, who is in the ages between infancy and adolescence, who is in the range age from 3 to 11 years Papalia, 2004:12. In this study the word child
and children refer to the characters in the novel who have such characteristis above.
2. Adult pl. Adults
American Psychological Association APA Dictionary of Psychology provides
two definitions of adult; 1 A person who has reached adulthood. 2 a person who has reached the legal age of maturity. Although it may vary across jurisdictions, an
individual 18 years of age is typically considered an adult. Papalia in Human Development says that adulthood is a period of human
development after adolescence. Adulthood is divided into young adulthood 20 to 40
years, middle adulthood 40 to 65 years, and late adulthood 65 years and over 2003:13. In this study the word adult refers to the characters in the novel who
represent the characteristics above.
3. Children Desire
The definition of children desire is based on Nodelman’s idea that it refers to the opposition of childlike to adult knowledge. According to Nodelman, “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. Nodelman also states that children desire in children’s literature is what the work mainly concerns with. It is about what the character of children want
without any wise consideration about it. The texts deal centrally with questions of desire, as well as with questions of knowledge: what children or other childlike
beings want and whether or not it is wise to want it 2008:79. In this study the term children desire refer to what the children characters in the novel want.
4. Adults Knowledge
Based on Nodelman’s notion, adult knowledge is defined as the knowledge that belong to adults characters in the story. It is defined as the knowledge of adults which
is higher, wiser, and more careful than one belonging to children, and also the base of controling of adults toward children.
...you children will continue to try to act on your desires because you will always have less knowledge than the adults around you. Therefore, you
children must accept your dependence on wiser and more careful adults and their right to control your environment and manipulate your thinking for your
own good 2008:35.
In this study adults knowledge refers to the adult characters’ knowledge which is higher, wiser, and more careful than that of the children characters. It also refers to
the adult characters’ control toward children characters in Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods
.
5. Children’s Literature
Nodelman and Reimer state, ”As its name implies, children’s literature is a body of texts defined by its intended audience” 2003:79. Children’s literature, then,
is literary work made for specific readers who are children or literature for children.
