“The Happiest Days of Your Life” by Penelope Lively

It is undoubtedly certain that a parent strives for the best for his child although all human beings put their own needs first, whether this is unknowingly or not, which sometimes leads to a very terrible mistake. Status, money and power can be very intriguing and Penelope Lively’s short story “The Happiest Days of Your Life”, 1978, is a great example on how one can outshine the other. The parents in the story clearly have the best intentions for their only child, Charles, but the lack of communication between them and their child will result in a bad choice.

The short story “The Happiest Days of Your Life” is told by an omniscient author in 3rd person. The story’s point of departure is the protagonist Charles who is the child of the two other characters we meet, Charles’ parents; “He looks straight a head of him, at the road coiling beneath the bonnet of the car. His face is haggard with anticipation. 'Next term, we'll mash you...’” (p. 59, l. 5-7) is a great example of the omniscient author since the author tells us how the child feels and thinks.
On the other hand the author does not know of Charles’ father’s thoughts or the other characters we meet throughout the story. We also get a bit of an expression of the mother’s thoughts and feelings, but not as much as we get to know Charles.
We are introduced to two different environments in the story; the car and St. Edward’s Preparatory School. The environment in the car is introduced on the way to the school and slightly in the end, when the family is driving back from the visit at St. Edward’s Preparatory School, but the story mainly takes place at the school.
“The building was red brick, early nineteenth century, spreading out long arms in which windows glittered blackly. Flowers, trapped in neat beds, were alternate red and white” (p. 56, l. 9-11) describes the appearance of the school very well, but frankly we get an even better impression of the social environment.
The social environment is described as upper class. The mother is very focused on the headmaster’s wife’s clothing and appearance and analyses every brand and its value.
“She worked over the headmaster’s wife from shoes to hairstyle, pricing and assessing. Shoes old but expensive - Russel and Bromley. Good skirt. Blouse could be Marks and Sparks - not sure. Real pearls. Super Victorian ring…” (p. 63 l. 10-13)
A woman that is not part of the upper class would not be able to identify the brands and the value of clothing simply by giving it a glance.
One gets a fine impression of both Charles’ inner and outer appearance.
“’AII right Charles? You didn’t get sick in the car, did you?'
The child had black hair, flicked down smooth to his head. His ears, too large jutted out, transparent in the light from the window, laced with tiny, delicate veins. His clothes had the shine and crease of newness. He looked at the books, the dark brown pictures, his parents - and said nothing” (p. 56, l. 31-34)
The reader is able to picture this little boy throughout the entire story. He is awfully quiet and seems to be shy and insecure. Throughout the story we get the impression that Charles dislikes and is in fact frightened of the school and its students, but he does not have the courage and is frankly too timid to tell his parents anything. There is a definite lack of communication between them.
“’Would you like to go there, Charles? Like Simon Wilcox? Did you see the lovely gym, and the swimming pool? And did the other boys tell you all about it?' The child does not answer. He looks straight ahead of him, at the road coiling beneath the bonnet of the car. His face is haggard with anticipation. 'Next term, we'll mash you...'” (p. 59, l. 2-7).
The miscommunication between the parent and the child is obvious. The mother’s personal needs outshine the need to communicate properly with Charlie.

There are two central themes in the story; status and lack of communication. Status and being part of upper class seems as a top priority for the parents, but meanwhile there is a lack of communication between Charles and his parents and this leads to an awful mistake on behalf of their child. The parents believe that this choice is the best possible for him although I believe that their personal need to achieve status outshines their son’s needs. Based on the fact that they do not truly communicate with Charles they decide the wrong thing for him.
It is obvious that the parents think that it is undoubtedly the best possible school for their child but on the other hand they do not really hear his opinion about it.

Frankly it is important not to miscommunicate with children. In some cases, such as this one, the child is reserved and afraid to say what they truly think and this is where the parents should step up and avoid doing this mistake. After all it is their child’s life and not theirs.