is a series of episodes consisting of a few kinds of fragme ntations. The life’s
fragmentation could not be separated one to another as it is meant to complement each other. The fragmentation of life would include friendship, family, society,
love, sacrifice and any other elements of life that all people will face in their life. The fragmentation will come in many ways as people choose their own path in
life, and it is the duty of children’s literature to introduce children on what series of event they will face once they grow up. “Literature allows us, as it does our
children, to hold life in our hands, the whole and the parts, to gather the recurring fragments and to piece them into a coherent pattern” Harrison, 1981:253. Every
fragmentation will be different from one person to another but it will help children to focus on their life essentials. The experience might be different but the
new understanding will surely help them to deal with it. Children will have different attitudes to death, fear, sex, perspective,
egocentricity, causality, and so on. They will be more open to genuinely radical thought and the ways of understanding texts; they will be more
flexible in their perceptions of texts; and, because play is a natural part f their outlook. They will regard language as another area for playful exploration.
They are less bound by fix schemes and in sense see more clearly. Hunt, 1991: 57
From the quotation above, Hunt believes that through children’s literature, children will be able to appreciate texts and stories. Stories in children’s literature
include the value in society and the aspects of life. As readers, children have a different perspective in seeing various events in their life. The exposure of topics
such as death, sex, and fear will make children understand more about the value
of life and the life they have to go through. The texts which consist of language will be their first challenge to explore its part and sense. Children will find it
usual and attractive to play with languages and to express a certain emotion.
2. Dark Themes in Children’s Literature
Dark th eme in children’s literature is a term to derive children’s story
revealing dark sides of life as the main themes, such as death, illness, divorce, separation, loneliness, and etc. Many researchers and scholars in children’s
literature co nduct a research upon the dark themes in children’s literature. The
research is done to counter the opinion that children should be away from dark themes contents in literature. As Nodelman 1992:2 said that every subject about
things people have no wish to hear about should be silenced and that we think children with such concern are abnormal. The important message author and
scholars would give to children is to make them understand that dark side of life is normal because it happens to anybody. Thus, children should be prepared for
every possibility to cope with those feelings. Each research usually conducts with specific dark themes in one particular novel or novels with similar themes. Death
could be one of the examples of the dark themes which are mostly found in children’s story. According to Romero 1974:par.1, the theme about death will
be much seen in various stories of children’s literature and depicted in various
ways to suit the various stages of child ren’s development. Therefore, the
depiction of each theme will be adjusted to children’s stage of development.
Children need to learn and understand about the dark side of life because sooner or later children will face the dark side of life and it is unavoidable.
Southhall 1975:12 states that children live in a world, not in a pedestal and they are out among people and interact with each other. Death might still look far
away for them but coping with death might happen anytime and they should be prepared to feel the fear, pain, and loneliness as a part of the emotions. Children
need to put themselves in someone else’s shoes to realize that this world does not only consist of happiness but also other dark emotions. Children need to see and
understand that anything bad could happen to anyone. If it is not to them, it could happen to their family or friends. Furthermore, the sad feeling of watching
someone suffering is a part of sympathy which every child should learn as a part of life lessons. As Mehta 2013:1 explains in her article about children who need
to have sympathy for others, “children need to read terrifying situations in order to empathize with characters who endure those situations. Those characters,
learning to stay strong and amid struggle, are part of a larger cultural shift in how we express ourselves about the things we’ve endured”.
The existence of dark themes in children’s literature is to help children to cope with the feeling that deals with the dark side of life. The important part of
the death is not the death as a loss but more on how children should cope with the
