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Characteristics
The Coming-of-Age Theme
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Many realistic stories depict their protagonist growing up
or coming of age. The coming-of-age stories typically trace the
protagonist's growth from a self-absorbed, immature individual
into an expansive, mature human being concerned with the welfare
of others, and his/her place in the world scheme.
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In good
realistic fiction, the characters possesses a clearly
defined personality and exhibits growth during
the course of the story. Their growth of self-awareness
usually comes with struggling, pain, and
even suffering.
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In children's
stories, the protagonist usually reaches a higher level of
maturity and a greater sense of self-awareness by the book's
end, but has not achieved adulthood.
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Classic
example: Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The
Secret Garden"
(1909).
Humor in Realistic Fiction
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In realistic fiction, humor
is frequently used to break the tension in sensitive
situations, unlike fantasies in which the humor is often
the humor of the absurd. Humor is a form of
self-preservation, of coping.
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In realistic fiction, humor
usually takes one of the three forms:
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The humor of character.
This depends on the antics of an eccentric personality.
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The humor of situation.
Surprising, awkward, or ridiculous actions or situations are
among the most common sources of children's humor.
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The humor of language.
Plays on words, verbal irony, malapropism (the misuse of
words), misunderstandings, all contribute to verbal humor.
New Realism: "Problem Novels"
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Beginning in the 1960s,
a movement called New Realism emerged that reacted
against the romantic and sentimental children's books
that had long dominated the market.
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The New Realism sought to
bring more honest emotions, franker language,
and bolder ideas to literature for children. It
opened an entirely new range of subjects, and little
remained that was taboo, including racial prejudice, teenage
gangs, drug abuse, homosexuality, child abuse, mental
illness, sexual abuse, parental problems, psychological
disorders, and many others.
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The "problem novel",
focusing on a singular, hot issue that affects the
protagonist, is a result of New Realism. It is always set in
contemporary times and aims at a naturalistic
portrayal of a problem plaguing young teens. Problem
novels are directed to older children and focus on
the individual's emotional response to life's
experience.
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Problem novels often contain
predictable plots, shallow characters, and
trite dialogue. They are sometimes sensationalized
and devolve into melodrama (i.e., soap operas of
young adult literature). They imply that teenage problems
have simplistic solutions. On the other hand,
problem novels explore significant psychological and
sociological issues with sensitivity and they give us
vivid, complex characters.
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Problem novels have also been
used as part of bibliotherapy, a process by which
young people cope with personal problems through directed
reading. However, some critics think that problem novels
often encourage a self-indulgence that only makes
matters worse and results in an inflated view of their
problems.
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A truly effective
bibliotherapy is that which expands the reader's
experiences, broadens the reader's mind, and thus multiplies
the reader's possible responses to problems.
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