We have all seen movies and read stories about a kid who does not feel like he is in a place where he belongs. It is often a decision, which is not made by themselves but by their parents, who almost always got the best intentions for their child. The reason for this kind of decision is often caused by lack of communication between the child and it is parents and more about the advantages for the parents than their child. ‘’The happiest day of live’’ is a good example of how parents’ decision may become a disaster for their child due to lack of communication between them and Charles.

The story is taking place in Sussex, which is an upper class area in the south of England. The story also tells us that it is a rich environment; when they were going to the school, they drove through a road with highly priced period houses (p. 1 l. 3). The school applies to upper class families, as you can read about how good the facilities is in the school and some of the facilities are not that common for boarding schools. The school is called St. Edwards’s Preparatory School, which is running by the headmaster James Spokes. By the name of the school you can also tell that the school is applying for the families with a lot of money, as it is a preparatory school, which means that it is a fee-paying school.

It is a 3rd person omniscient narrator who tells the story, from Charles’ point of view. The narrator is partially omniscient since some of Charles’ feelings are known; A bell goes, somewhere beyond doors and down corridors, and suddenly the children are all gone, clattering away and leaving him there with the heaving floor and the walls that shift and swing (p. 4 l. 28-30). A non- omniscient objective 3rd person narrator would never know that Charles has the feeling that the floor is shaking and the walls is moving. In the end you also hear Charles‘ thoughts; His face is haggard with anticipation. ‘Next term, we’ll mash you...’ (p. 5 l. 29-30). In this part the narrator knows that Charles is only thinking about that he is going to get bullied next term, which is not objective either. The narrator only knows some of Charles’ and his mothers feelings, there is no thoughts or feelings of other persons, and it does not seem like the narrator knows what is going to happen either, the only non-objective element of the narrator is that some feelings and thoughts of Charles and his mothers is known, which is why the narrator is limited omniscient.

Charles is the main character. He’s probably 7-8 years old, because that is the age when you are about to start on a Preparatory school. He is a very shy and nervous boy, which we can read through the story, where he barely speaks and seems very shaky, as you are when you are nervous. He is not enjoying that he is about to see the school he is about to start in (p. 1 – p.2 l. 3). He is described as a black haired, which is flicked down smooth to his head and he is wearing modern clothes, which his parents probably bought (P. 2 l. 31-33). Charles’ mother, Mrs Sanders, cares about what others think about her and she wants to have a good reputation, which is why she wants Charles to go there. We can read that her friend Sally bought a brand new coat, and that is why Mrs Sanders also is dressed fine. His father, Mr Sanders, is like his wife. He’s not thinking about what is the best school for Charles, but he is thinking about where he can meet some good contacts (p. 2 l. 25-29). The headmaster, James Spokes, and his wife, Margaret Spokes, are very stylish people (p. 3) and it seems like the children in the school like them, especially the wife (p. 4 l 5-12).

The relationship between the main character Charles and his parents is rather ambiguous. The parents think that they know their child well and assume that he likes the same things as they do. The mother in the story keeps saying how good the school is and makes the decision with her husband to ‘’settle it’’ and only after they made the decision she finally managed to ask Charles about the school. But if we look at it for Charles’ point of view we can assume that he is quite afraid of the school and the bullies he met. So the relationship between them can be described in two ways.

If you put ‘’The happiest day of your life’’ into perspective with the movie ‘’An education’’, you can clearly see the difference, when it comes to parenting. In the movie you see the parents pressure their kid to get the best grades so she can go to Oxford, or if that would no work out they want to marry her with a rich man. But in this story you see the parents make decisions after their needs. The mother wants good reputation and the father wants business contacts. You can say that it is two different worlds that meet each other. But the parents in the story and in the movie have got some in common. Bot families are Upper middle-class, who do everything they can to fit into the upper-class environment and they both want to show that they are something.

We can conclude that parents decisions might not always be the best, especially not when you don’t think about the most important in parents’ lives, which is their child. The children must always be the first priority, especially when it is about their own future. That is why it is important that the communication between the child and its parents does not fail.