Department of English Literature
and Language,
Mansehra, Pakistan.
Children's literature
is a literary work concerned with the degree of interest, need preparation, and
children's growth. It began in Europe and the Tanzimat in the 16th century.
Children's books, both local and international ones, promote cognitive and emotional
development cumulatively. This research investigates violence and fear in
Francesca Simon's "Horrid Henry" series. It analyzes the frequency of
violence and fear components in the series and their impacts on child
development. The qualitative research method is used in the analysis of this
work. The data gathered were evaluated depending on the research problems. The
data demonstrate that the Horrid Henry series comprises violence (f: 100); physical
violence (f: 16) and mental violence (f: 84), and fear (f: 11); originating
from humans (f: 7), animals (f: 2) and inanimate objects (f: 2). Although this
series may affect children in negative manners, it is reasonable to state that these
works of Francesca Simon enable children to a vast depth of information.
Children's books have an
essential role in the lives of young readers and also encourage literacy in
language learners. Children's Literature is important because it provides
students with opportunities to respond to Literature; it gives students
appreciation about their cultural heritage as well as those of others; it helps
students develop emotional intelligence and creativity; it nurtures growth and
development of the children's personality and social skills, and it transmits
important Literature and themes from one generation to the next.
The fundamental psychological
needs of children are two: security and adventure. Healthy mental growth
depends largely upon the proper satisfaction of these two needs, which are
contradictory but complementary. These may be compared to the positive and
negative charges of electricity, which is a complementary manner jointly cause
the flow of current. A child draws sustenance in its mental life from a
balanced satisfaction of the requirements of security and adventure. Inadequacy
concerning their satisfaction or any imbalance in that respect may cause severe
neurotic disorders and an acute sense of frustration and unhappiness. A child
with such disorders will become a maladjusted personality in society, lead a
miserable life himself, and be a source of trouble, annoyance, and unhappiness.
Literature greatly satisfies the psychological needs of security and adventure
by providing an atmosphere of joyful living, an essential requirement for
security, and giving full play to children's imagination regarding adventurous
undertakings. The child gets in Literature an abundance of pleasant and
adventurous situations he ordinarily misses in real life. He gets great
inspiration from the stories he may read for his adventurous enterprises. His
mind craves an adventurous trip to the top of a mountain or a voyage to the
high seas. He wants to ride into the fire and come out of it unscathed. In
imagination, he wants to appear in the challenging roles of the mighty heroes.
This he does by reading about the achievements of great travelers, warriors,
explorers, navigators, or social workers. He places himself in the position of
the hero he reads about. He draws sustenance in his mental life from the
accounts of the adventures he reads about in the books.
It is too easy to understand
that each child has an individual mind of his own, tastes, aspirations, mental
capacities, and fears. The best book is the one that satisfies its reader and
allows him to enter into the world shared with the author. Children’s
literature is helpful in providing an opportunity to respond to literature,
cultural knowledge, emotional intelligence and creativity, social and
personality development, and literary history to children throughout generations.
Exposing children to quality literature may contribute to responsible,
successful, and caring humans.
The Concept of Violence:
Violence may be seen as a totality of cognitive attitudes that come
from the combination of multidimensional qualities and how individuals react to
themselves or other objects. Violence
has often played a significant role in children's literature. Violence in
children's literature is generally not to blame for children’s violent
behavior; instead, the presence of violence in literary works may positively
affect children's life. Children are easily attracted to stories involving
violence. Some of us may relate to violent circumstances described in
children's books. When utilized skillfully, these experiences may teach
children how to avoid violent conflicts in their own lives.
Violence has played a pivotal
role in children's literature throughout the years, but as Maureen Nimon (1993)
points out in her article on violence in children's literature, "It is
only in recent decades that the place of violence in children's books has been
so vigorously questioned" (p. 31). Nimon (1993) argues “violence has
appeared for centuries in didactic stories in which the wicked are punished,
often with physical violence, and the virtuous are rewarded” (p. 29)
However, children are usually
fascinated by the violence and fear parents strive to protect them from. This
shows through in children's works, regardless of whether or not they have been
exposed to violent books. Moustakis (1982) argues that violence is an essential
aspect of human nature, and children deal with it by creating stories having
damaging aspects. Moustakis (1982) says that protecting children from violence
is a terrible strategy to prevent them from being frightened. She states,
"Those who trust that the elimination of stories of ogres and monsters
will make bedtime easier … will be dismayed when, in the absence of a literary
culprit, [the monsters] nevertheless take shape in their children's perfervid
imaginations" (p. 9).
Whereas others claim fear and
often violent aspects will traumatize children, these undesirable components
constantly occur because these are the types of things children dream up on
their own. Bronwyn T. Williams (2004) discusses the capacity of a child's
imagination to construct violent situations, even when parents and teachers
work hard to steer children from any materials that may encourage such
behavior. She gives an example to demonstrate her point, stating, "There
is the story of the boys whose parents scrupulously avoided buying them toy
guns only to look out the kitchen window and see the boys pointing sticks at
each other while making appropriately explosive sounds" (Williams, 2004,
p. 511). Books are not the culprits in the case of children expressing
aggressive actions while playing or creating stories.
Kenneth B. Kidd (2005) describes
a shift in recent years, which has moved away from the “assumption that should
insulate young people from violence and evil in literature”. At the same time,
violence has always been a component of children's literature. In recent years,
sensitive issues like violence as globally impacting and extensive as the
Holocaust have been recognized for their potential in educating young people
about the dark side of human nature and the critical history of such terrible
phenomena. Even Whitehead, a woman committed to non-violent writing for
children, is cited in Nimon's (1993) article as stating, "There is a need
for books which help young people face reality, however distasteful that
reality may be" (p. 31). Whitehead's argument implies that violence does
have its place in children's literature since it genuinely represents elements
of the reality that children should be aware of, no matter how much adults seek
to shelter them from it.
“Children's works that feature
violence could be helpful when it teaches children how to deal with conflicts
in their own lives”. Jennifer Armstrong (2003) discusses an issue among young
males in the writing workshops. When the young kids need to come up with a
conclusion for their stories, they usually cannot imagine an outcome. She says,
"the only way to get the story over with is to bring on destruction and
chaos" (Armstrong, 2003, p5). Armstrong highlighted that the children who
did not think about potential consequences and constructed endings often had
the least reading experience. She addressed that children like them may have
trouble dealing with conflicts later in life since they never had a background
in literature to compare their circumstances. She suggests, "When older,
these same students may be faced with real obstacles in their lives that they
cannot see resolutions for, and bring real guns to school" (Armstrong,
2003, p14).
Violence is an
essential, though unpleasant, component of society that has endured for
generations and continues yet. Therefore, it is an essential and positive topic
to emphasize in children's literature as children should be aware of the
world's reality, both good and evil. When appropriately utilized and
deliberately, violence may serve essential purposes in literature. It does not
appear to associate with aggressive attitudes in children. It may strengthen a
child's comprehension of strategies to manage when conflict or violence emerges
in their own lives. While violence in literature may have numerous advantages
for young readers, strict standards must be examined before labeling a book "worthwhile"
for the classroom, as illustrated above. Those choosing literature with violent
characteristics should carefully assess the material to examine whether the violence
represented a purpose, stressing the effects of violence or alternatives to
aggressive actions. Unfortunately, violence is not likely an element of human
nature that can be eliminated. However, if children are acquainted with
relevant and quality literature that educates them about violence, they have a
high possibility of facing a world of violence and conflict responsibly. Authors
should develop items that will assist in expanding and upgrading children in
different ways. It is critically necessary that violence be addressed to
adolescents gently without exaggeration. It may be stated that the fair use of
components such as fear, pain, evil, grudge, hatred, et cetera should not
damage the cognitive development of children; instead, these features should be
applied sparingly to make children more engaged.
The Concept of Fear:
Children's
stories aim to inspire fear within young readers, even though the question is raised
related to the childhood process of learning emotions and adult considerations
about the value and use of specific feelings such as fear in educating or
shaping children. According to Bettina Hitzer, “fear can be a terrible thing in
a child’s life. Fear must be entirely eliminated—fear of adults, fear of
punishment, fear of disapproval, fear of God. Only hate can flourish in an
atmosphere of fear” (Hitzer, B. 2014). Children learn how to feel at least
partially through a process of mimetic reading. They use what they have read as
'material' to play with either literally or only in their imaginations and may
'test' what a particular role causes within them in terms of emotions.
In
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, men were characterized mainly by
manliness, which implied a particular form of fearlessness and bravery. Early
in the late nineteenth century, some of these men did mention fear when telling
their adventures retrospectively. However, since they usually did not go into
much detail, these descriptions generally served merely as illustrations for
the great dangers they faced. Nevertheless, they attested to integrating the
transitory feeling of fear into the concept of manliness. The same was true for
references to fear in the countless popular adventure, detective, or school
stories featuring male or female child heroes. Fear functioned there more as an
enhancement to the sense of excitement and suspense intended for the reader
than as a representation of a personal feeling or as an in any way profound
feeling. During 1960s and 1970s, child readers experienced multiple narratives
relating to fear. Three different, but at times intertwined, dimensions of fear
dominated during these two decades. The first of these retold, and to a
substantial degree removed the gender of, the story of the fearful, essentially
human, and compassionate hero. This hero's ultimately insurmountable power is
derived from being unafraid of anxiety and from a form of desperate and
empathetic rage based on acknowledging his or her emotional openness and
vulnerability. Regarding this representation, fear does not change humans but
was as essential to connecting them as compassion and love, two emotions that
were to be intimately connected with fear.
It is thought that
horror stories dominating children's literature in the West have impact on children’s
life values, a desire to read, satisfy their sense of curiosity, and drive to
explore without producing any terror. This may positively contribute to the
child's cognitive and social development when the element of fear is utilized carefully.
According to numerous ideas, reading stories involve magnificent and terrifying
attractions that influences young children and old adults differently. It has a more
substantial impact on kids than on adults. The correct application of fear may
motivate children to read literary works. It may also resentment their
interest, allowing them to study and analyze events constructively.
A. What
elements of fear and violence are in Francesca Simon's "Horrid Henry's
Series"?
B. How
are the elements of fear and violence in Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry series
dispersed among themselves?
C. What
are the results of critically examining the elements of fear and violence in
Francesca Simon's "Horrid Henry Series"?
The research population is
Francesca Simon's "Horrid Henry's Series", written and intended for
children as the primary readers. The limitation of the work is Francesca
Simon's "Horrid Henry's Series", one of the most popular 20
children's book series, only four were analyzed "Horrid Henry and TV
Remote", "Horrid Henry's School Election", "Horrid
Henry's Bad Present", and "Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead".
The research model
regulates the conditions necessary for the economic collection and resolution
of data based on the purpose of the study. In this research, children's
storybooks written by Francesca Simon were examined in terms of the elements of
violence and fear used in them. In this study, the qualitative research method
is used. The document analysis method is based on the principle of examining
and processing documents in various ways and reaching a conclusion accordingly.
Document analysis usually involves: "Getting the document, checking the
authenticity of the document, analyzing and understanding the data in the
document and using the data" (Simsek, 2009: 43). "Horrid Henry's
Series" is one of the most popular 20 children's book series, only four
were analyzed "Horrid Henry and TV Remote", "Horrid
Henry's School Election", "Horrid Henry's Bad Present",
and "Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead" were analyzed in this work.
The elements of violence
and fear in the book "Horrid Henry and TV Remote"
Table 1. Violence Elements in the
Book “Horrid Henry and TV Remote”
|
Physical
Violence |
Emotional Violence |
|
Types F Page No |
Types F Page No |
|
Shredding 1 6 Pulling 1 4 Pushing 1 4 Hitting 1 6 Snatching 3 4, 6, 7
|
Yelling 6 4,7 Bad words 8 4,7 Screaming 4 4,7,11,14 Shouting 5 7,12 Walled 3 7,5,11 |
|
Total 7 |
Total 26 |
Table 2. Fear Elements in the Book
“Horrid Henry and TV Remote”
|
Type |
F |
Page No |
|
Fear
originating from inanimate objects |
2 |
5, 13 |
|
Total |
2 |
|
In analyzing the content of the
story book "Horrid Henry and TV Remote",
it is seen that a total of 33 violent elements are used: 7 for physical
violence and 26 for emotional violence. The emotional violence includes 6
"yelling”, 8 "bad words”, 4 "screaming”, 5 “shouting” 3 “wailed”. The physical violence includes 1
“shredding”, 1 “pulling”, 1 “pushing”, 1 “hitting” and 3 “snatching”.
The fear elements in the book, "Horrid Henry and TV
Remote" and their frequency values are listed in Table 2.
The elements of violence and fear in the book "Horrid Henry’s
School Election".
Table 3. Violence Elements in the
Book "Horrid Henry’s School Election"
|
Emotional
Violence |
|
Types F Page No |
|
Bad
words
9
17,18,19,20 Shouting 7 18,19,25 Screaming 3 18,26 Yelling 3 18,19,24 |
|
Total 22 |
Table 4. Fear Elements in the Book
"Horrid Henry’s School Election".
|
Type |
F |
Page No |
|
Fear
originating from humans |
4 |
17, 18, 24,26 |
The elements of violence used in
the book " Horrid Henry’s School Election "and their frequency values
are listed in Table 3.
In analyzing the content of the
story book "Horrid Henry’s
School Election", it is seen that a total of 22
emotional violent elements are used. The
emotional violence includes 3 "yelling”, 9 "bad
words”, 3 "screaming”,
7 “shouting”.
The
elements of fear used in the book "Horrid Henry’s School Election" and
their frequency values are listed in Table 4.
In analyzing the content of the book, "Horrid
Henry’s School Election", it is seen that a
total of 4 elements of fear are used: 4 are ''fear originating from humans”.
The elements of violence and fear in the book “Horrid Henry’s Bad Present”.
Table 5. Violence Elements in the
Book “Horrid Henry’s Bad Present”.
|
Physical
Violence
Emotional Violence |
|
Types F Page No Types F Page No |
|
Pushing 1
27 Screaming 8
27,31,32,35 Pulling 1 28 Bad Words 5
28,29,34 Kicking 1 28 Shouting 3
32,33 Biting 1 32 Yelling 1
36 Twisted 2 36 Tugged 2 36 |
|
Total 8
Total 17 |
Table 6. Fear Elements in the Book
“Horrid Henry’s Bad Present”
|
Type
|
F |
Page No |
|
Fear
originating from animals |
2 |
29, 31 |
The elements of violence used in
the book “Horrid Henry’s Bad
Present” and
their frequency values are listed in Table 5.
In analyzing the content of the
story book "Horrid Henry’s Bad Present", it is seen that a total of 25 violent
elements are used: 8 for physical violence and 17 for
emotional violence. The emotional violence includes
1 "yelling”, 5"bad words”, 8 "screaming “and 3 “shouting. The
physical violence includes 1"kicking",
1 “pushing”, 1 “pulling” ,1 “biting”, 2 “twisted”, and 2 “tugged”.
The elements of fear used in the
book “Horrid Henry’s Bad Present” and their frequency values are listed in
Table 6.
In analyzing the content of the book, “Horrid Henry’s Bad Present”,
it is seen that a total of 2 elements of fear are used: 2 are ''fear
originating from animals”.
The elements of violence and fear in the book “Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead”
Table 7. Violence Elements in the
Book “Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead”
|
Physical
Violence
Emotional Violence |
|
Types F Page No Types F
Page No |
|
Kicking 1 49 Shouting 4
37,42,43,49
Shrieked 5
38,39,50
Yelling 4
38,45
Screaming 3
39,47
Bad words 3
38,46 |
|
Total 1
Total 19 |
Table 8. Fear Elements in the Book
“Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead”
|
Type |
F |
Page No |
|
Fear
originating from humans |
3 |
38,45,50 |
The elements of violence used in
the “Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead” and their frequency values are listed in
Table 7.
In analyzing the content of the
story book "Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead", it is seen that a total of 20 violent
elements are used: 1 for physical violence and 19 for
emotional violence. The emotional violence includes
4 "yelling”, 3"bad
words”, 3 "screaming”,
4 “shouting” 5 “shrieked”. The physical violence includes 1 "kicking".
The elements of violence used in
the book “Horrid Henry Wakes the Dead” and their frequency values are listed in
Table 8.
In analyzing the content of the book, “Horrid Henry Wakes the
Dead”, it is seen that a total of 3
elements of fear are used: 3 are ''fear originating from humans”.
Children's
books have proven to be very much important to children and that too in a number
of ways. This literary genre helps to nourish children’s cognition, improve
their skills of reading, speaking and learning abilities, it has an effect on
their mental health, which may sometimes be positive or negative. In fact,
children pick up negativity so much quicker than positivity. In this research,
there are negative elements like violence and fear, and excessive use of
emotional violence like yelling is the most frequent element used in the
book. In analysing of the book "Horrid Henry" series by Francesca
Simon, it is observed that the work contains elements of physical and emotional
violence, and also the elements of fear are visible. Of the 95 elements of violence,
10 are physical violence, while 85 are emotional violence. This series
contributes a wealth of knowledge to children’s literature. The use of negative
vocabulary in the series would build poor or unacceptable language in children.
This paper also focuses on the concept of fear in the Horrid Henry series; fear
arises from humans, animals, and inanimate objects. In this series, a total of
11 fear elements are used. Among these 11, 7 are "fear originated from
humans," 2 are "originated from animals" and 2 are
"originated from inanimate objects". Fear is developed to gain
readers' interest and complete their books without getting bored, and they read
the last page of the story with the same
interest as the first. In this paper, the qualitative research method is used
to find out the elements of violence and fear. After examining the content of
Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry's Series, it is seen that they do not have
suitable examples of children's cognitive and affective developmental
characteristics. Despite the appropriate use of fear elements, the elements of
violence are used excessively, and this can have adverse effects on children in
various ways.
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Hitzer, B. (2014). Jim Button’s Fear. Learning How to
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Kamm,
A. (1971). Children’s literature its purpose and use. International
Library Review, 3(2), 169-186.
Lassén-Seger,
M. (2006). Adventures into otherness: child metamorphs in late
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Great work.
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