Passage 1 the fifth child

COMMENTAIRE 1

This extract is the first scene of Doris Lessing's novel The fifth child, a book published in 1988, dealing with Ben, a monster-like child whose birth makes his parent’s life become hell. This passage is descriptive, because it’s where the reader learns how the two characters are. This first scene introduces the two mains characters, David and Harriet and to the general tone of the story to come. In this extract we are given details about David and Harriet way of life, their thoughts about physical appearances, we learn also what their jobs are.

There are four parts in the passage corresponding to the different stages of the author’s description. The first part is about the importance of the party, the second part we are going to talk about David and Harriet, and the final part we are going to study the comparison between David and Harriet and the rest of the people.

In the first part we are going to study the party. The party is an important part of the novel, because it brings out David and Harriet couple in a certain society, and it is one of the central themes of the book.

Music is a massively important because it creates the atmosphere for the party. The author wants to show that the party is very noisy. A lot of people are there and most of them are dancing.

The people who are dancing appear to be the strangest people. The men are asking for a lot of attention and the women have a colorful appearance. They all want to show off. The party is describe through the eyes of David and Harriet and they both consider this to be a dramatic, bizarre or even psychedelic experience. People appear to them as ridicule and strange beings. They are having fun in this noisy party and for the two old fashion people hear, it is very strange. When they describe the dancers faces it looks like a scary show. David and Harriet doesn't understand why people can have fun in this joyful atmosphere that they considered like a painful one. In the party’s description we can see that the story takes places during the 1960’s. The world, society and people are changing.

In this part of the novel, we are going to describe David and Harriet.

Firstly, we can say that David looks like a ordinary man. He is an architect and he has been working in a dogged disciplined manner of ambitious man.

David is a gray-blue eyed, soft brown haired man, however Harriet is a blue eyed, curly dark haired woman. She is a graphic designer. Harriet is a « healthy young woman » who is « solidly built » (line 37), but David is a « slight young man » (line 44). Their differences are only physical.

David and Harriet are very similar. They are both « conservative, old fashions obsolescent, timid, hard to please » (line 4 and 5). It also says that they both « dislike these occasions » (line 51 and 52).

When they meet at the party, they don’t talk to each other at first, because they don’t know each other and they are a little bit shy, reserved and introverted. And it’s especially because they prefer, for their first meeting, just to look at each other and admire one and other. They don’t need to talk for the moment, they instantly understand that they belong to the same quire.

Both relied on they intuition, they prefer to observe one and other first.

We can guess that their future relationship will be more of traditional love than a passionate one. They really want one and other, they are kindred spirit. They are what the other is waiting for and they immediately know that, they know who is the other. Between them, it’s love at the first sight because their fate was to meet each other and to fall in love.

David and Harriet belong to the society of the 1960’s, but they have definitely decided to live outside this society. They believe in fidelity, love and family life. When they meet at the office party, they looks strange with all the society. When guests are dancing and try to have fun, David and Harriet are not dancing, they don’t take part in the party. They don’t enjoy the party with all the people with whom they should be friends. They don’t fit in this party, they are misfits. They don’t seems to have friends. They don’t seems to fit in their time and their society. They are out of their time.

Together, they seems to epitomize the traditional values of conservative England that doesn't change with their society.

To sum up this passage, we can say that the writer wants to show the reader ,from the first pages of her novel, that the two main characters are very strange and can be considerate like out of their own time.

This consideration helps the reader to know Harriet and David, because this situation is present during all the story. The contrast between the society and the couple is clear and is going to be the main intrigues of their lives.

For me, the first pages are important and give all the information we need to understand the rest of the novel.