The Fifth Child

The Fifth Child

Ben Kills the Dog
1. "She locked Ben in: if he could kill a dog, then why not a child?"
  1. The family see what Ben is really capable of
  2. Instead of getting Ben the professional help he needs, they shun him aside
  3. Out of sight, out of mind
The Office Party
1. "They talked as if talk were what had been denied to them both"
  1. David and Harriet are soul mates
  2. Like Ben, only they are not alone because they found each other
Ben's Birth
1. "She had been waiting to exchange looks with the creature who, she had been sure, had been trying to hurt her, but there was not recognition there."
  1. Immediately rejected by Harriet
  2. Harriet does not even see him as her own son
The Insitituion
1. "Rows of freaks, nearly all asleep, and all silent. They were literally drugged out of their minds."
  1. Shows how widespread the issue is
  2. Almost dystopian, shows how important it is to solve the issue
  3. Ben is not one of a kind, there are others like him
2. "His pale yellow tongue protruded from his mouth. His flesh was dead white, greenish."
  1. Ben is clearly in an unhealthy state due to his poor treatment
  2. Makes the reader question who the evil people really are, the different or those who treat them
Pregnancy
1. "It was not possible that such a tiny creature could be showing such fearful strength; and yet it did."
  1. The baby is supernatural and of another species
  2. First sign of Ben's threating and menacing violence
2. "This foetus - this creature with whom she was locked in a struggle to survive."
  1. Harriet doesn't think of Ben as a 'baby'
  2. There is a lack of motherly connection and bonding
  3. Rejected by his creator
The House
1. "Even with David's quite decent salary, and Harriet's, the mortgage of this house be beyond them."
  1. They are taking on a huge responsibility and they don't have the means to sustain it
  2. They are relying on others to build their dream
4 Children
1. "They drank champagne, and poured some on little Luke's head. It was 1966."
  1. Sense of celebration
  2. The vision is becoming a relaity
Ben Hurts Luke
1. "Paul had put his hand in to Ben through the cot bars, and Ben had grabbed the hand and pulled Paul hard against the bars, bending the arm deliberately backwards."
  1. Ben easily hurts people, showing that he is not an ordinary child
  2. He hurts his own sibling, showing just how malicious he is
2. "They did not bother to scold Ben, who was crowing with pleasure and achievement."
  1. They are perhaps scared of Ben and that is why they don't punish him
  2. Ben shows no remorse which shows how malicious and evil he is
  3. He is almost sociopathic
John's Gang
1. "Ben spent all his time with John."
  1. Ben is looking for attention and affection elsewhere
  2. He has finally been accepted and has integrated himself into a part of society
Ben's Gang
1. "They were a bunch of gangly, spotty, uncertain adolescents."
  1. A group of society's rejects
  2. John's gang was the only time Ben had ever felt accepted, so he builds his own gang
2. "Muggings, hold-ups, break-ins...rapes too."
  1. Crimes increasing in severity show how dangerous he has become

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	Created by Erin Maguire almost 7 years ago