Subverting AdultChild Image The Ways of Deconstruction are Used in Wilson‟s The Illustrated
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children‟s characters in the story, has an ability to give advice to one of the adult characters in the story, Marigold. It is in contrast to the adult character
in the conventional children stories who always become the advice giver for the children character.
Another datum showing that child image has been deconstructed in The Illustrated Mum
is when Star checks her little sister‟s uniform before going to school.
She checked herself in the mirror and then fiddled with my dress.
„Sweaty or not, it needs a wash.‟ „No, it‟ll spoil it.‟
„It‟s spoilt already. And the hem‟s coming down at the back. Here, I‟ll find a pin.‟
She tucked the wavy hem neatly into place and then stood up Wilson, 1999: 28.
In most of the conventional children stories, adults characters such as a
mother or a father, a grandmother, an aunty or a maid, is responsible to check children‟s school stuff including uniform. Yet, here, it is seen from the datum
above Star is the one who takes adult‟s, especially her mother‟s role in checking Dolphin‟s uniform and making sure it is neat. It can be said that
Star overtakes adult‟s image in almost all of the conventional children stories.
„I can go round to the corner shop,‟ said Star. „I think it opens early on Saturd
ays.‟
„You can‟t go out and do the shopping,‟ said Micky fondly. He looked as if he thought she was too little to shop. I wanted to tell
him that Star had done the shopping ever since I could remember. She was much better at it than Marigold
Wilson, 1999: 93. Above is another datum showing that children characters take role of adults‟
responsibility. It is told that Star is the one who is always in charge of doing
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shopping. However, Micky, one of the adult characters found in The Illustrated Mum, thinks that she cannot do the shopping. It indicates that Star,
as a child, is not supposed to shop and her mother is the one should do it. The evidence is supported by Dolphin‟s statements saying that Star has done
shopping starting from she was very young. In addition, Dolphin thinks, Star is better in doing shopping than Marigold, their mother. Shopping is not a
child activity. Society even believes that it is part of a women or mother‟s activity. It is the society itself who constructs that belief, but that belief is
overturned by Star who can also have an adult‟s roles which is shopping. There is one more datum that shows Star and Dolphin always look after
Marigold
. „Then that‟s not our fault. She‟s supposed to look after us. We‟re children. We‟re not supposed to look after her. The way I‟ve always
done
Wilson, 1999: 121.‟ Star‟s opinion reveals that they have to look after Marigold, an adult character, for many years. As Star says, they are still
young and they are not supposed to look after their mother. It is not because they hate her, but society has constructed the belief that children are weak.
The society believes that children need to be taken care and looked after by adults. The adults are the ones who take the responsibility to take care of
them since children are not knowledgeable enough to know how to look after themselves. However, this belief is overturned by Wilson. She creates Star
and Dolphin characters to make the readers believe that children can take care of her mother.
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Society also constructs the belief that children are very passive. In most conventional children‟s stories, some authors create adults characters or fairy
characters to help them to solve their problems. It is because the society has constructed children‟s image that are passive. It believes when children have
a problem, they cannot manage to solve it. Nevertheless, Wilson overturns the image of adult who is always seen as active and child who is always seen
as passive. She creates active children‟s characters that are smart and know
what to do when they are in a trouble.
I knew what to do. I knew it was the only thing to do . But I felt I was
betraying Marigold as I stood in the phone box and dialed the three numbers.
„Emergency?‟ „Yes. Yes, it is an emergency,‟ I said. „I think I need an ambulance.‟
Wilson, 1999: 161
Dolphin in the datum above knows what to do by calling an ambulance when her mother is covered by paints. She knows there is possibility that the paint
can damage her mother‟s sights, hearing, or other parts of body. Therefore, she calls an emergency that will send her an ambulance. Her mother will be
sent to hospital where doctor and medical team can help her. It is not that she is not smart enough to heal her mother. The fact is that she is not a doctor,
not that she is only a child. She is a child, but she can help her mother by calling a doctor, not to be a doctor for her. There is possibility to create the
passive Dolphin. She can stay and cry while her mother is in bad condition like that and she can possibly wait for someone else to help her mother. Yet,
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Wilson creates the active Dolphin to make the readers understand that children can be active if they are given a chance to think and to help. This
evidence can subvert the society‟s belief where commonly it thinks children are always passive.