The Happiest Days of Your Life by Penelope Lively

Still a boy, your whole life in front of you, and your parents have already figured out the rest of your childhood. Your parents are blind, blinded of the successful monetary people, and their dream of having the same amount of money and life. You are a boy without courage and an option to stand up for yourself, and instead become involved in a life embossed of hierarchy.

The main characters in the novel are the boy Charles, Mr and Mrs Manders. The way Penelope describes the boy’s behaviour, and the way he shows his lack of interest, makes me feel that he is a very shy, insecure and a low self-confidence boy. A boy afraid of the unknown and new. In the story the boy is very quiet. We noticed it, when Charles was in the back seat of the car. He doesn’t eat his chocolate or read his comics (p. 61, l. 1-2 “The boy sat on the back of the seat of the car, a box of chocolates, unopened, beside him, and a comic, folded”). I think it’s a sign of Charles being insecure and afraid. He knows this new school isn’t something for him. He knows that he is low in the hierarchy. But he can’t say no, he won’t disappoint his parents, especially his mom. His mom is giving him no choice to choose his own way, to take responsibility for him self, and his own actions. Charles mom has since he was a little boy held him close to her self, which might have made him introvert. She hasn’t given him a chance to flourish like a real boy. It’s unknown for Charles to take responsibility for him self, which causes it to be terrifying for him. This results in insecurity and low self-confidence.
The mom is very controlling which you can see in Charles behaviour, he is very unsocial and shy. The way she controls the family’s schedule (p. 61, l. 9 “just right. Nearly twelve”). She pretends to talk to her son in a polite way, but she doesn’t wait for any answer (p. 65, to last paragraph). She makes choices for him because she is an opportunist. She strives after being a part of the upperclass (p. 62, l. 12-14, “…. city people send their boys here. One or two of the merchant bankers, those kinds of people”). It’s an advance to have your child at a school with other kids who have a well background of bankers. Those kinds of bankers from London, big monetary people. The mom is also kind of snobbish (s. 62, second paragraph, l. 2-3 “I like the way they ‘ve got the maid all done up properly”). The class distinction attracts her.
The father has a passive behaviour; he is henpecked. He has the same opinion as the mother; he is in the background.

The title of the story “The happiest days of you life” surprise me. I see it in two ways. Maybe it is sarcastic. That day in the shortstory must be the worst day ever for Charles. Left alone with a group of strange boys who threatened to beat him. And parents that do not see their son. Perhaps the title means that his until now happy childhood is over.

The story is mainly written in past sentence. It seems more emotional because the reader gets the impression, that Charles now is a pupil at the school. Its grievous that parents makes decisions for their children without knowing their needs and feelings. A very sad story.

The main theme of the story is “bad parenting”. Their behaviour and attitude to the subject boarding school can only be criticised. Their motive for sending their little son away is selfish. Charles is their mean to get into a higher level in the society. They think they will get closer to rich and influential people. The headmaster couple also seems to forget the children (p. 63, l. 24“And this is Charles? My dear, we’ve been forgetting all about you!”). And little empathy is seen when the headmaster’s wife let Charles alone with the boys. Almost as sending a little lamb into the wolf cage.

The aim of the text shows the reader that contacts and money is important to get Charles in to the boarding school. That is a contrast to what we can read in the article ¨klassekamp på skolebænken”. The goal for the Tony Blair Government is to get as many young people as possible to get an academic education. Not only children from private boarding schools, but also children from public schools. But in the 1978 where Penelope Lively wrote the text it was strictly important to have a private school background, if someone wanted to attend for example Oxford and Cambridge. Parenting was obviously influenced by that. The Danish article tells us years later the politicians try to change that.