Motherly Love in Peter Pan

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Every child's anger has a root, whether it stems from within the home or outside of it. In the novels mentioned, we see that the root of the three children's anger is similar. In all 3 of these novels, we see that none of Matilda, Harriet, or Curdie are receiving the sufficient affection or attention from their parents. Their parents are either engulfed in their own lives or simply do not show any signs of being fond of their child. This is portrayed clearly in all three of the novels. In Harriet the Spy, In Matilda, neglect from her parents stems from pure greed, allowing them to overlook the briliance of their young daughter. This is a clear point made in the story, emphasized by the author's introduction of the parents when he says "Occasionally one comes across parents... who show no interest at all in their children... the parents looked upon Matilda in particular as nothing more than a scab" (6). He also mentions how parents who neglect their kids in such a way are "far worse than the doting ones" (6). As the author mentions, the parent's neglect for their daughter stems from pure greed. Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood "were both so gormless and so wrapped up in their own little lives that they failed to notice anything unusual about their daughter". This led to them overlooking her mind-blowing intelligence and even when Miss Honey attempted to approach them about the issue, they responded by saying that "a girl does not get a man by being brainy". This left Matilda as the odd one out in the family. Her interest in watching television and even her way of thinking was different from theirs. Although she was best left alone to her books, her parents' neglect and behaviour still managed to anger her. "She knew it was wrong to hate her parents like this, but she was finding it very hard not to do so...She resented being told constantly that she was ignorant and stupid

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