View Full Version : James Clavell's The Children's story
"But not just for children."
I was going to tack this onto the current thread about the education system, but, since it is a topic that is often visited here, I decided to place it in The Library.
To paraphrase T.S. Elliott, "This is the way freedom is lost, not with a bang but a whimper."
Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Nltg6lZtQ) Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_583410&feature=iv&src_vid=hgErWze-w9U&v=x1QB6KU5xv0) Part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_583410&feature=iv&src_vid=hgErWze-w9U&v=uJrbBwLTTTw) (The total time is about 30 minutes.)
A bit of trivia: The "New Teacher" is played by Clavell's daughter, Michaela.
Pat
I remember watching this as a young teen and discussing democracy, communism, and totalitarianism - all huge topics being bantered around constantly in the media and political discourse at the time - with my Dad.
Clavell's own daughter, whose classroom experience as a child inspired him to write the story, plays the part of the new teacher in the TV adaptation of the book.
I need to read the book.
Richard
The Children's Story (Part 1 - 10 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_721388&v=Y4Nltg6lZtQ
The Children's Story (Part 2 - 10 mins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1QB6KU5xv0
The Children's Story (Part 3 - 6:29)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_571641&feature=iv&src_vid=x1QB6KU5xv0&v=uJrbBwLTTTw
Clavell's own commentary tells how he was inspired to write this story after a talk with his six-year-old daughter just home from school. His daughter, Michaela, was explaining how she had learned the Pledge of Allegiance, and he was struck by the thought that, though she had memorized the pledge, she had no idea what many of the words meant.
Clavell finishes by writing:
During that day I asked all kinds of people of every age, “You know the 'I pledge allegiance...', but before I could finish, at once they would all parrot it, the words almost always equally blurred. In every case, I discovered that not one teacher, ever — or anyone — had ever explained the words to any one of them. Everyone just had to learn it to say it. The Children's Story came into being that day. It was then that I realized how completely vulnerable my child's mind was — any mind for that matter — under controlled circumstances. Normally I write and rewrite and re-rewrite, but this story came quickly — almost by itself. Barely three words were changed. It pleases me greatly because it keeps asking me questions... Questions like what’s the use of 'I pledge allegiance' without understanding? Like why is it so easy to divert thoughts and implant others? Like what is freedom and why is it so hard to explain? The Children’s Story keeps asking me all sorts of questions I cannot answer. Perhaps you can — then your children will...
The power to use language as a weapon, as it is so effectively done in the classroom of Clavell's story, admonishes us to always make sure young minds truly understand what a word really means.
Maybe James Clavell should have watched more Red Skelton...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMR6d_9GsCQ
or John Wayne!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLdgJOazMj4
I remember watching this as a young teen and discussing democracy, communism, and totalitarianism - all huge topics being bantered around constantly in the media and political discourse at the time - with my Dad.
<snip>
I need to read the book.
Richard
Hmm. I think that you must have read it as a teen, since the film was not made until 1982.
Pat
Hmm. I think that you must have read it as a teen, since the film was not made until 1982.
Pat
Guess my memory is failing - must've been me discussing it with my oldest son back then. We used to have many such discussions - still do as my Dad did with my brothers and I.
Richard
We used to have many such discussions - still do as my Dad did with my brothers and I.
Richard
My dad was from the "Children should be seen and not heard" school. He couldn't keep me from listening, though. ;) I dropped out of that school and made sure that we always had dinner together. My two stand-out moments as a parent (besides the obvious) were when our son beat me to a "question" on Jeopardy (age 7) and the first time he beat me at chess (age 3, I think :D).
Pat