Bad to the Bone: The Worst Children in Literature on AbeBooks: Children can be innocent, inquisitive and the embodiment of hope. But those characteristics make for boring stories. Sometimes authors enjoy creating a fictional child that is just plain nasty. Draco Malfoy might be a bigot and a bully, but he’s rarely dull and is a vital ingredient in the Harry Potter novels. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would not be such a tasty read without greedy Augustus Gloop, bratty Violet Beauregarde and the spoiled Veruca Salt.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Bad to the Bone: The Worst Children in Literature
Bad to the Bone: The Worst Children in Literature on AbeBooks: Children can be innocent, inquisitive and the embodiment of hope. But those characteristics make for boring stories. Sometimes authors enjoy creating a fictional child that is just plain nasty. Draco Malfoy might be a bigot and a bully, but he’s rarely dull and is a vital ingredient in the Harry Potter novels. Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would not be such a tasty read without greedy Augustus Gloop, bratty Violet Beauregarde and the spoiled Veruca Salt.
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5 comments:
Don't forget Rhoda (?) in THE BAD SEED.
She's on the list.
Sure is! How did I miss that?
One quibble: Pinkie in BRIGHTON ROCK is not a child. He's 17 and, by the standards of his day, a grown man if not a "legal" adult.
I would have also included the two girls in Beryl Bainbridge's Heavenly Creatures-esque HARRIETT SAID and the murderous children in J. G. Ballard's RUNNING WILD.
Haven't read Ballard's book. I agree about HARRIETT SAID.
Lord of the Flies, anyone?
Wyndham's children are pretty awful.
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