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The Children's Story

Reviewed by [Eyes of the Reaper]

Date: 9/15/08


(Note: This book was written from an American point of view but it pretains to all countries as it deals with the frangibility of a child's mind.)

"It was two minutes to nine."

  How long would it take to change the future of a nation? James Clavell explores this very question in his dystopian novel The Children's Story. It opens up in a classroom--a teacher at her desk, students in theirs. The idea chilling the to the bone with fear is the thought that their nation was just overrun by an enemy nation. They are all to be 're-educated' and indoctrinated with the thoughts of the, now ruling, party. To do this, the new government provides a young, pretty teacher. To show just how innocent most children are, Clavell makes a point to explain that these few traits are the first things the students notice along with her uniform and that she smells good; she also knows all of their names, making a personal connection with the young ones. To them, these things are just cause to like this new woman. However, one of the students, Johnny, simply does not like this new teacher. Albeit, with the entrance of one teacher--another must go.

  Soon, the students are running through their daily routine and come across the American Pledge of Allegiance. The new teacher, as she was instructed by her 'comrades' in the government to do, asks the children if they know what 'pledge' and 'allegiance' mean. Of course, being so young, they fail to answer her questions. She proceeds to explain what those two words mean, adding a subtle bias to contort the reality of the children. They end of loving their nation and flag so much, they cut it to pieces so each of them can have a piece of it and toss the flag pole out of the window. Through methods like this and the giving of candy, the 19-year-old woman manages to change all of them, even Johnny.

"It was 9:23."



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