KidLit Forum

NOTES:
The story = a quest for the young prince to meet his people, to see how they live, to meet the low-life, all levels of society (flat characters) in order to become a good king.
“They made beggars of the children, but failed to make thieves of them” = it sounds almost as a regret = there is still hope
Tom’s life: “Drunkenness, riot and brawling were the order.” “Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place.” “Yet, little Tom was not unhappy.”
STRANGE:
a.Father Andrew teaches him “ charming old tales and legends about giants and fairies, dwarfs and genii, and enchanted castles and gorgeous kings and princes” => the power of knowledge works subconsciously => first digns of emancipation.
b. Chapter 9 – The River Pageant – it is a chapter that does not seem to belong to the book; too many details spoil the pleasure of reading
Be careful what you wish for (like in Five Children and It): “One desire came in time to haunt him day and night: it was to see a real prince, with his own eyes ” / “… his desire to look just once upon a real prince… became the one passion of his life.”

Tom’s evolution as a king:
“He looked sufficiently like a king, but he was ill able to feel like one… once more he felt the sense of captivity heavy upon him.”
“… the mock King Tom Canty… lost his fears; his embarrassments departed, and gave place to an easy and confident bearing: it no longer confused him to have these lofty personages kiss his hand at parting.”

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Monika Bandi

It seemed to me that the writer not only presented the two contrasting worlds, that of the poor and that of the rich but in some ways he favoured the poor. Tom seems to handle things a lot easier than Edward. His ability to read and write is definitely the key to his success. Being a teacher I think that this could be a good lesson to teach chidren showing them that knowledge could help you in difficult situations. It would not be the first time when we hear about the poor class being tough and more able to adapt to new situations than the upper class. Being rich keeps you in the comfort zone, you don't need to push your limits at all whereas poor people fight all the time.