The little girl at the window

Aarav BC

Introduction:

This book is an autobiographical memorial to the writer herself. It was written by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. This book was originally published in 1981 and became an instant bestseller in Japan. This book was actually written by the writer to motivate children who do not like going to school, so she chose to write her own life story. It all started as articles and later as a book, but who knew this book would become the best-selling book in "Japan History"? It's about a girl named Totto-chan who was expelled from her school for disrupting the class and being too talkative. She went to a new school, and it changed everything.

Plot:

This story starts with a girl named Totto-Chan. She used to be a very talkative girl and was always disturbing her class. She used to be told by the teachers to stay quiet, which made Totto-chan feel very bored; that is why she used to look out of the window of the classroom. Her teacher used to even scold her for that, as she used to not pay any attention to the teachers. She was soon expelled from school. When Totto-chan’s mother got to know that her daughter had been expelled, she knew that she needed to find a school where freedom of expression was allowed. So, she took her to the school named Tomoe Gakuen. She met the founder, Mr. Kobayashi. Totto-chan easily befriended him. Totto-chan was taken aback when she arrived at her new school and discovered that there were no ordinary classrooms like at her previous school but rather railroad cars. They were allowed to choose any subject they liked. She even made some new friends. She became best friends with a boy who had polio, but it did not matter to Totto-chan. As he had polio, he could not climb up the tree houses that were in the school for every student, but Totto-chan would help him climb up in the tree house. They had afternoon walks almost every day at school, where they would learn about nature, the environment, and the history of the region. Totto chan used to have a lot of fun at her new school.They had a sports week, and everyone always enjoyed it. But one day at the assembly, Mr. Kobayashi came up to the stage and, with a heavy heart, he said that Yasuaki-chan (Totto-chan’s best friend) had passed away. Everyone was very sad. They all went to his funeral, and when Yasuaki-chan’s mother saw Totto-chan, she came to her and cried, saying he would always talk about Totto-chan. Totto-chan cried near his coffin. Totto-chan promised that one day she would see him, and somewhere in life, they would meet again. When Totto-chan was leaving, she was sure she saw Yasuaki-chan, but she did not say anything and cried a lot. If that was not enough, when she went home from school, her pet dog was missing. She cried a lot and searched a lot but did not find her dog. Her mother told her to find him, but Totto-chan knew one thing for certain: her dog would never return. This all happened during World War II. Now everything she most adored was gone, and still the only school she loved the most, Tomoe Gakuen, was bombed during the war. Totto-chan watched all of this from her window, remembering everything that had happened to her.

Critical Interpretations

Well, personally, I really loved this book; it was very nicely written. And to say that a little girl loses almost everything she adored and loved the most is an understatement. Her memories, which she should have been very happy to remember, turned out to be the most hurtful thing about them. I liked the idea of Mr. Kobayashi creating a school where students can freely express anything they enjoy while studying, creating an environment where all kinds of children can study and have the same respect, fun, and education. Children who suffered from such diseases were also treated the same way every other child was. And this is what should be happening. I also like the idea of doing a daily afternoon walk with the children where they can breathe fresh air after all classes and still learn many interesting things. I really did not find anything that I did not like about this story.

Recommendation

I honestly recommend that all of you read this book. I personally liked this book a lot. This book was actually written by the writer to motivate children who do not like going to school, so she chose to write her own life story. It all started as articles and later as a book, but who knew this book would become the best selling book in "Japan History?" After reading this book, you will have many questions and may be disappointed with the ending because it is very sad. But still, once we start reading this book, we will feel attached to it. This book was very well written. All the characters were very well described. People who think that true friendship does not exist in this world anymore may change their minds after reading this book. Again, at last, I would like to say that I really recommend this book to all of you.

Plot:

The book starts with an incident. Harald (Dahl’s father) breaks his arm; they take him to the doctor. However, the doctor was drunk and mistook the injury for a dislocated shoulder. While trying to relocate it, the arm became beyond repair. Dahl’s father, Harald, had two wives. The first wife died after giving birth to two children, and then he married another woman, with whom he had five more children, including Roald. When Roald was four, his sister died of appendicitis, and shortly after that, his father also died of pneumonia. So his childhood must have been really hard. Harald wanted his children to attend British schools, and Sophie (Harald’s second wife) resolved to fulfill his wish. She sends her children to a British school. Dahl recalls one noteworthy incident from age 5. At that age, he and his friends used to prank people a lot. There was a sweet shop in the town that was run by Mrs. Pratchett. Once they found a dead mouse, and what they decided to do was slip the mouse into one of the gobstoppers (a type of sweet) to scare Mrs. Pratchett. The plan worked. However, Mrs. Prachett reported them to the school headmaster, and they got beaten up really hard by their teacher. He also shares many experiences like these from his childhood.

He also mentions that he and his family used to spend their summer holidays in Norway. They arrived in Oslo at Sophie's parents' house after a four-day journey. Sophie's parents are referred to as the Bestemama and Bestepappa by Dahl.The next day they went to a place called "The Magic Island," where they went boating and explored the island. Dahl remembers one day during the holidays when his mother took him to the doctor. The doctor stuck a small tool in Dahl’s mouth and cut out his adenoids. This was a common practice at the time. Dahl had been going there for many years.

After that, at the age of nine, he started studying at a boarding school named St. Peter's, which was in Weston Super Mare. It was located on a hill above the town. One-third of the building was reserved for the headmaster and his family, and the other two were for one hundred and fifty boys. As they got out of the taxi, the headmaster came and greeted them; after that, his mother climbed back on the taxi, and Dahl began to cry.

At St. Peter's, Sunday morning was letter-writing time. At nine o'clock, the whole school had to go to their desks and spend one hour writing a letter home to their respective parents. He wrote his mom letters once a week or sometimes more until she died after 32 years. His mother had kept all of his letters bound. In 1957 A.D., when his mother was dying, Dahl, on the other hand, was admitted to a hospital in Oxford and had an operation on his spine. He had no clue that his mother was going to die. She never told him about it. She had a telephone specially installed beside her bed so that she could have one last conversation with her son. She called him on her last day before her demise, and still she did not talk about her; she talked normally and asked how he was doing, and that was the last conversation between Roald and his mom Sophie.

He used to keep writing letters to his mom on St. Patrick's Day, and the headmaster would go to every class and inspect everyone's letters so that they wouldn’t write anything bad about the school. Also, he mentions that they used to call their teachers "master." At the age of 12, his mother again shifted him to another public school. She gave Roald two school choices: Marlborough and Repton. He said he would join Repton because it was easier to pronounce. But both schools were really good and famous.

He spent four years at Repton. In his last year, his mother asked him if he wanted to go to Oxford or Cambridge after school was finished. He replied to her, saying, "No, thank you. I want to go straight from school to work for a company that will send me to wonderful faraway places like Africa or China." So during his last term, he applied for the job, and he got selected. And he went to Africa for his job. After that, the Second World War broke out. And he joined the Royal Air Force, where he became a pilot.

Critical Analysis:

The book "Boy" was written by Roald Dahl. He is a great author and the best storyteller. The book was his first autobiography. The book tells us about his (Roald's) life from his birth until he graduated from high school.The book also talks about how cruel teachers were back in his day. The teachers used to beat the children without hesitation. Nowadays, if teachers beat children for every bad thing they do, they could go to jail, whereas before 30 or 40 years, the teachers used to beat children very badly, and this is also one of the things talked about in the book.

He talks about his experiences in school and in his childhood. He also mentions a little about his time as a fighter pilot in the Second World War. The book talks about how difficult it is when your parents leave you in an unknown place to study where the teachers are very strict. This feeling is very hard to face for a small child. The education system is good but very strict. The teachers were very strict and cruel. They wouldn’t hesitate to beat you, no matter how small or big you are.

My opinion on the book is:

The book is really good, in my opinion, and there are many reasons for that. The book is very easy to understand; Dahl has not used difficult words in the book. Also, it is an autobiography novel. The book teaches a lot of things to the reader. We learn about the education system in the nineteenth century.We get to know a lot more about the author, Roald Dahl. Personally, I really liked the book, and I will recommend it to teenagers because the book teaches a lot more than what is in the book, and teenagers will be able to understand and relate to it perfectly.

Aarav BC

Grade: X, Machapuchare

Roll no: 25001

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