Dita Sramkova Diploma Abhorsen Trilogy
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MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Does the Walker Choose the Path, or the Path the Walker? – Female Characters in Garth Nix’s The Abhorsen Trilogy Diploma Thesis Brno 2011 Supervisor: Written by: Ing. Mgr. Věra Eliášová, Ph.D. Bc. Dita Šrámková Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem záv ěre čnou diplomovou vypracovala samostatn ě, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramen ů, dalších informací a zdroj ů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o zm ěně n ěkterých zákon ů (autorský zákon), ve zn ění pozd ějších p ředpis ů. Souhlasím, aby práce byla uložena na Masarykov ě univerzit ě v Brn ě v knihovn ě Pedagogické fakulty a zp řístupn ěna ke studijním ú čel ům. Declaration I hereby declare that this diploma thesis is my own work and that all the sources of information I have used are listed in the references, in compliance with the Penalty Code for students of the Faculty of Education of the Masaryk University and Act No. 121/2000 Coll. on Copyright and Rights Related to Copyright and on Amendment to Certain Acts (the Copyright Act) as amended. I approve that this diploma thesis is stored and available for study purposes in the library of the Faculty of Education at the Masaryk University Brno Bc. Dita Šrámková Acknowledgement: I would like to thank my supervisor, Ing. Mgr. Věra Eliášová, Ph.D., for giving me her support and guidance throughout the writing process. I would also like to express thanks to all my family, especially to Michal, Karolína, Evelína, my parents and friends for their support and patience. Contents 1. Introduction...................................................................................................................5 2. A Brief History of Children’s Literature.......................................................................9 3. Definition of Children’s Literature .............................................................................15 4. Gender in Children’s Literature ..................................................................................20 5. Fantasy Literature........................................................................................................24 6. Biography of Garth Nix ..............................................................................................28 7. Plot of The Abhorsen Trilogy ......................................................................................30 8. Setting - The Wall and Two Worlds ...........................................................................35 9. Sabriel .........................................................................................................................39 9.1 Identity ..................................................................................................................41 9.2 Maturity.................................................................................................................46 9.3 Gender Roles - Relationship .................................................................................51 9.4 Parenthood ............................................................................................................54 9.5 Sabriel’s Companion.............................................................................................56 10. Lirael .........................................................................................................................59 10.1 An Outsider .........................................................................................................59 10.2 Theme of Death and Suicide...............................................................................62 10.3 A Different Path ..................................................................................................64 10.4 Identity ................................................................................................................67 10.5 Maturity...............................................................................................................71 10.6 Sexuality..............................................................................................................75 10.7 Lirael’s Companion – Disreputable Dog ............................................................77 10.8 Family .................................................................................................................80 11. Conclusion ................................................................................................................83 Resumé............................................................................................................................86 Summary .........................................................................................................................87 Works Cited ....................................................................................................................88 Attachments.....................................................................................................................92 5 1. Introduction Generally, children’s literature is highly valued in many countries around the world. We are living in a period of remarkable generation and consumption of children’s literature and, as a consequence, this causes a more general interest in this field. Children’s literature is now being taken as a serious subject of further analysis and exploration. Stories told through children’s books represent one of the important ways of helping children understand their own lives and explore various imagined worlds through which they can experience feelings and thoughts in ways different from their own. There are many kinds of narratives that reach a child, the reader, and with the current fast development of new technologies, new phenomena such as e-mails, mobile text message, internet with wide variety of chatting programmes and lately wide spread social networks, etc. have become an inseparable part of children’s lives. But even in this technological world the written and oral stories still retain the importance of their position. The children’s literature is written for a different audience, the child, the reader, and it is the way a story is communicated to the audience and its effects on the child, the reader, which form part of the field of children’s literature. Reading a story should be an enriching and interesting experience for the child, the reader, however, it is important to bear in mind that neither children nor the children's books are a homogenous mass. Therefore, the child, the reader, should be emotionally and intellectually capable of absorbing the values that are presented by the author in the book. The first part of this diploma thesis presents a theoretical background on children’s literature. A history of children’s literature is presented. Originally children’s literature was intentionally written for education and religious purposes. For the purposes of amusement it started to occur later on and continues to exist 6 simultaneously. Definitions of children’s literature and fantasy literature are discussed in the following parts of this thesis. Another important part of my diploma thesis is the gender and gender roles that have significantly changed during the last century and therefore, it is not surprising that the main characters of Garth Nix’s The Abhorsen Trilogy are females, Sabriel and Lirael. These female protagonists swap roles with male characters portrayed in the stories (i.e. they save the male characters, which later on take on supportive roles of companions and obey Sabriel and Lirael’s orders). Contrary to other fantasy novels (e.g. Harry Potter series ), female protagonists in The Abhorsen Trilogy do not have to overcome any obstacles arising from their social position as both males and females in the novels are equally treated. This helps them as they are not distracted from their quest by any other social obstacles. In my thesis, I will concentrate on these main female characters of The Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen ) and discuss them from different points of view; for example I will focus on their gradual development of their journeys. The trilogy is a Bildungsroman 1 of young girls, discovering the responsibilities and opportunities that come with growing up. Deidre F. Baker in her paper on internet “What We Found on Our Journey through Fantasy Land” states that in fantasy for children “the quest and journey is usually a quest for wholeness and identity, for maturity.” I follow the journeys of Sabriel and Lirael and their gradual transformation into their new identities and maturity. Various challenges, adventures and events on their journeys help the characters develop and to become “new” persons. Persons who learn on their journey as well as makes mistakes, change through the experience. 1 Bildungsroman is a novel of formation, a novel whose principal subject is the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of a usually youthful main character. 7 What Baker does not mention is the question of freedom that comes along with the journey. A person is on his/her own and experiences freedom and independence. It is the internal fight of secret desires of Sabriel and Lirael and responsibilities that they are assigned to manage. They find out that they are predetermined for their roles as their “paths” were chosen. They cannot