-The rising action took place much deeper into the story than I am used to reading. It didn't occur until Harriet and David received the news of their fifth child. Before that, nothing extreme happened. The first four children were perfectly healthy and normal and they made up a very happy family of six. As soon as Harriet got pregnant with the fifth, she sensed something was different. The pregnancy was not easy like the first four, she was in constant pain and couldn't control the strength of the child growing inside of her. She knew something was wrong and when the child was born she knew she had been right. He was monster like; big and strong and not delicate or fragile like her previous children.
-Conflict: The conflict began as soon as she brought ben, the fifth child, home. Everyone was scared of him for he was extremely different. No one knew what to think, especially Harriet. As he grew into a toddler he became more and more dangerous. He would harm the house hold pets and he had to be supervised at all times. The family stopped coming around for the holidays because of how they feared Ben. The main conflict was Harriet's struggle to love this child. She hated him for what he had done to the family. He took her away from her four perfect children because she had to keep an eye on him 24/7 and he had to have special care. He tore her marriage apart. He created so many problems but he was still her biggest concern and she spent most of her time with him, trying to help him the best she could.
-Climax: One day after years of struggling with this child, David's parents decided to mention putting Ben into an institution. They had been watching him drain the life out of Harriet and how David and the rest of the children didn't matter anymore. He was a danger to every living thing that came into that household and was not in any way normal. They arranged for him to be taken away one day. A van arrived at the house and David carried Ben out of the house to be taken away forever. Harriet felt so guilty hearing him screaming as the van drove off and not helping him but the guilt was mostly caused from the huge sense of relief she felt. Soon after that her home life and family went back to normal and everyone was so happy again.
-Falling Action: Even though everything went completely back to normal in the household, Harriet couldn't stop thinking about Ben. One day she got the huge urge to go see him. She got out of bed and demanded the information of where she could find him. Once she learned where he was she left immediately. She drove for hours to find him in some hospital like place with kids just like him being drugged and tested and treated horribly. She couldn't stand to see him in such an awful place and took him home. Her family felt so betrayed when they saw that she had brought Ben back into their home. Things were really difficult since being in that situation had made Ben even worse and he needed even more of Harriets time and attention than before.
-Resolution: Surprisingly, once Ben started highschool he found a group of friends that looked up to him and they became inseparable. The group he was hanging around would come to his house all the time and these teenage boys terrified Harriet. She soon began hearing of crimes being committed everytime the group would disappear for hours at a time and deep down she knew it was Ben and his friends. The book ended without really saying what had happened to Ben. The family was destroyed and he was still such a destructive creature. Nothing got resolved and I just felt empty at the end of this book.
2. The theme of this novel is unconditional love, or the lack of it. Ben was hated by his own family because of how different he was from all of them. They never even took the time to build a relationship with him. They had decided from the very beginning that he was not and could not be one of them. Harriet felt these things too due to the destruction Ben caused in her life but she also loved him. She devoted her life to him. She went back for him even though she knew how much harder it would make things. She did the best she could being the mother to something or someone so incapable of loving her back.
3. Tone: the tone is very cynical at times. Ben's condition really questions the humanity in those around him.
"She took Ben home. Now he was locked into his room each night, and there were heavy bars on the door as well. Every second of his waking hours, he was watched. Harriet watched him while her mother managed everything else."
"One morning when people were sitting around having breakfast, Harriet for some reason turned her head and saw the dog, asleep, and Ben going silently up to him in a low crouch, hands held out in front of him... 'Ben!' said Harriet sharply. She saw those cold eyes turn towards her, caught a gleam of pure malice."
" 'It's either him or us,' said David to Harriet. He added, his voice full of cold dislike for Ben, 'He's probably just dropped in from Mars. He's going back to report on what he's found down here.' He laughed- cruelly, it seemed to Harriet, who was silently taking in the fact- which of course she had half known already- that Ben was not expected to live long in this institution, whatever it was."
Characterization
1. Direct Characterization is used to describe Ben and the other four children's personalities. You never get the chance to know what Ben is actually thinking for feeling because he can barely talk at all. You really only have this picture of him from what every one around him thinks and says. Indirect characterization is used to describe Harriet and David because you really get to see who they are through their communication between each other and those around them.
2. Lessing's syntax and diction remains consistent no matter what character is being focused on except for Ben. He rarely talks but when he does it's different than most. He uses very short sentences that get directly to the point. His first words were "I want cake." He never carries on a conversation, just talks when he really needs to.
3. The protagonist is Harriet and she is a dynamic, round character. She does develop and change throughout the story because she begins this normal lady with normal dreams and hopes for her family. When Ben comes into the picture she changes dramatically, one who was always so happy and dedicated to her other four children and husband begins to become depressed; paying little to none attention to any one other than Ben. She also develops as a mother, really proving her loyalty to her troublesome son.
4. After finishing this book I definitely felt like I read a character instead of meeting an actual person. Although this story was very interesting it was nearly impossible for me to relate at any level. I didn't find myself connecting on a personal level with any of the characters.
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