The fifth child door Doris Lessing

1. Author: Doris Lessing
Title of the novel: The fifth child
Publisher: longman literature
Edition: 1988
Number of pages: 147 2. A: The book has the title the fifth child because when Harriet and David get their fifth child their family life changed a lot. B: Yes I think that it’s a good title. Because in the book it’s al about the change the fifth child brought in their lives. Ben (the fifth child) is a very difficult child. And he ruins the family. 3: Psychological novel.
4: A: Most of the time it is in the house. It’s a big house in London. After long searching for a house they found an old Victorian house with a big garden. They al have their own room. And they live in a wealthy neighbourhood. B: I think that it’s important to know where the story is set. Because it is helping you to understand the story. 5 A: The story takes place in londen between 1965 and 1987. B: No it’s not because things like this can happen in every period. C: No it’s told in chronological order. 6: In the unconstrained atmosphere of England in the late 1960's, Harriet and David Lovatt defy the "greedy and selfish" spirit of the times with their version of tradition and normalcy: a large family, all the expected pleasures of a rich and responsible home life, children growing, Harriet tending, David providing. Even as the day's events take a dark turn to an ominous surge in crime, unemployment, unrest the Lovatts cling to their belief that an obstinately guarded contentedness will preserve them from the world outside. Until the birth of their fifth child, Harriet and David are stricken with astonishment at their new infant. Almost gruesome in appearance, insatiably hungry, abnormally strong, demanding and violent, Ben has nothing infant-like about him, nothing innocent or unsullied - nothing normal by society's standards. Harriet and David understand immediately that he will never be accepted in their world. And Harriet finds she can’t love him. David can’t bring himself to touch him. The four older children are quickly afraid of him. Family and friends who once gravitated to the Lovatts' begin to stay away. Now, in this house, where there had been nothing but kindness, warmth, and comfort, there is restraint, wariness, and anxiety. Harriet and David are torn - as they would never have believed possible - between their instincts as parents and their shocked reaction to this fierce and unlovable baby. Their vision of the world as a simple and benign place is desperately threatened by the mere existence of one of their own children. As the novel unfolds in spare and startling scenes, we are drawn deep into the life of the Lovatt family, and are witness to the terrifying confusion of emotion that becomes their daily fare as they cope with Ben - and with their own responses to him - through this childhood and adolescence. 7: A: You get the story from a storyteller. And seen trough Harriets eyes. B: Ben: He looks like a goblin and wasn't pretty at all when he was borne. He is the youngest son of David and Harriet. He is very strong for his age. He can only show people anger and fear and there's absolutely no loving look. He's like a problem child to most of the people and he can be very dangerous. Harriet Lovat: She works in the sales department designing firm. She is being very good as a mother, but when Ben comes, the other kids don't get much attention. She feels that she's the only one who cares a little for Ben. David Lovat: He works as an architect and his parents got divorced when he was little. He can't understand that Harriet want Ben back in the house. He has to work very hard to earn a living. The other kids: Luke, Helen, Jane and Paul. Paul got injured because of Ben when he was little. Ben: I hated Ben because he was nagging the whole family. He was dangerous. And he is looking horrible. I think he maybe has a sort of a syndrome. For his age, he was very strong. But he could only do things to make people unhappy. And he is also dangerous. He injured his brother Paul. When Harriet takes him back home, he slowly turns into a criminal. This person is so evil and dark. I think nobody can like this character. And when you like it you are an evil person yourself. Because Ben is the worst child you can get. Everything at him is bad. His looks and his mind. 8: A: The most important subject in the book is Ben. That is because the title is about him. The story is about him. And it shows you that having a child is not always nice. B: The theme is that our society is incapable of dealing with certain types of people living in their midst, that sometimes problems are insoluble, that happiness isn’t something one possesses and the road to disaster may be irreversible. 1: A: Ben and Harriet meet each other at a party. They get a relation. And decide not to have for 2 years. But when they land in bed together and Harriet is getting pregnant they decide to keep the child. But when they have kids they need to have a bigger house. After a long search they find a house in a wealthy hood in London. David doesn’t feel for the house but the buy it finally. After 4 kids get the advise from Harriet’s mother to stop get children. But the next summer Harriet is pregnant again. She has a lot of pain. But the new baby is a disaster. It a horrible child and ruins the whole family. The rest of the children’s are going out of the house when Harriet decided to take Ben back out of the institute. Ben is turning into a criminal. And Ben and Harriet decide to move. And build up a new life. B: Today I had an office party. I didn’t feel like going. But I’m So glad I did. Today I met a very nice woman called Harriet. We were the only free persons at the party. But we seemed to like each other from the first moment we met. She was very nice dressed. And looked very nice. We both thought that the people who were dancing were strange guys. The all looked weird and had strange clothes. The other guys in the office tried to get us in bed. But we were very smart and did not listen to them. We had and very nice evening and I enjoyed it. Now I’m going to sleep and maybe dream about her.