Didactic Aspects of Transferred Social Values in Children´s Literature : A Character Analysis Focusing on Adult-Child Power Structures Found in Lois Lowry´s Novel Number the Stars

Abstract:

The aim of this essay was to examine adult-child power structures connected to the main character in Lois Lowry´s novel Number the Stars, to see if they could be found in different levels, and layers of the text. With the focus to see if the novel´s content might correlate to any educational purposes if used when teaching English as a second language in the Swedish upper secondary school. The analysis showed that the novel displayed a didactic intent from the author to introduce ideological social values belonging to the Danish society and the resistance movement in Denmark during the German occupation, between the years of 1940-1945. Furthermore, presumed transference of American values from the author were found in the narrative. The portrayals of these social values in the narrative are done with a display of adult power over children in the narrative, both in the story and towards the novel´s intended readers. The content of the novel could then be used for educational purposes to uncover and discuss aspects of social power through ideology, human values, and human rights, correlating to the English syllabus in Lgr11 regarding "relations and ethical questions", as well as the curricula’s aim to develop the students ability´s to "reflect over living conditions, social and cultural phenomena in different contexts and parts of the world where English is used" (Skolverket 32, 34).