Advent of Denial of Death in Children\u27s Literature

Abstract

After creating and sustaining highly Romanticized notions of childhood, society begins to protect children from the dangers that supposedly exist exclusively in adult reality, particularly death. Taking into consideration society\u27s attitude towards childhood, this thesis closely examines the different ways in which authors deny death in children\u27s literature. Nineteenth-century authors often use enchantment to create ways for children to survive in an otherwise cruel and deadly Victorian world. As social issues slowly begin to improve, death in children\u27s literature moves away from an event that without magic cannot be ignored, to an occurrence far less likely to happen during childhood. However, as a result of such improvements, when death does occur during childhood, denial becomes an unavoidable emotional response to death. By evaluating the different ways in which authors deny childhood death in their literature, this thesis makes a connection between contemporary attitudes of children and denial of death