THE
LOST CHILDHOOD
“Ëach was a crystal in which child dreamed
that he saw life moving”.This line of Graham Greene shows remarkable
understanding of the influence of books on a child’s wavering personality
because childhood is a period which can not rest for long against any one
particular thing.This essay is an autobiographical sketch in which Greene tells
us of the writers he has read in the early formative years of his life and the
way they influenced the course of his own writings.The books on the shelves at
home appeared to be waiting for the writer in his childhood. Each book appeared
to him as the crystal or the magic globe of fairy tales predicting in their fashion the fate or the destiny of a
child.In the same way these books read in the childhood appear as the books of
divination or act as fortune teller who sees a long journey in the card.That is
why the books in childhood excite a child a lot and he waits for the new
edition with a missed heart beat therefore this excitement is incomparable with the mild expectation of
civilized pleasure of mature age.
According
to the writer the books in his possession reflected the various aspects of life
just like the crystal , showed him the future possibilities of life.Life in all
its possibilities and potentialities became open before him like a “brave
new world” of Shakespeare’s Tempest or open Sesame of “The
Arabian Nights”.The books thus became a medium through which the
writer could see the reflections of life.It was a mirror in which he saw all
forms of movements and activities of life.It was a picture in which he could
find ideas,feelings and plans of all kinds of people.It was thus,he related his
own observations and experiences with the books before him.Then he got ideas
about his own future from the books that he read one after another.
He
could imagine the life that he would be leading in future with the help of
books with him. His life of action could be that of characters in the books. These
books exercised a deep influence on his mind. They opened a variety of
opportunities for him. They fashioned the mode of life the writer adopted in his
later years. Thus Captain Gilson’s “The Pirate Aeroplane” about
a lost civilization in the Sahara desert and pirates playing games with the
hero, had a deep impact on his memory and he could not eliminate it from his
mind all his life.He mentioned this incident in one of his novels later on. The
writer decided to join Nigerian Navy after reading several romantic tales of
different writers and story of ancient witch Gagool. His later adventurous
career in Africa was partly the result of the influences of witch’s story on
him. He recreated his experiences in Africa on the basis of his earlier
readings of Gagool .He shared the belief of African in the witch when he and
they sat in their huts thinking that bush devil was moving there. At that time
he fell ill with fever on camp bed in Africa. It was a small hut and in the dim
light of candle, rats moved across the room. It was the story of witch Gagool
that toned up his spirits and he bore the hardships of life with patience.
Gagool
remained a permanent part of the writer’s imagination as he said “didn’t
she wait for me in dreams every night in the passage by the linen cupboard,near
the nursery door?and she continues to wait, when the mind is sick or tired…….”In
the same way the character of Quartermain and Curtis,with their valour and
courage remained a permanent source of inspiration to the writer throughout his life.
“They were the men of such unyielding integrity that the wavering personality
of a child could not rest long against those monumental shoulders”.A
child cannot resist the influences of such man as to show extraordinary courage
in fighting against evil.These men to him were ideals of existence in bravery
and courage.
Finally
the novel of miss Bowen “The Viper of Milan”supplied
him once and for all with a subject and all the possible futures like potential
civil servant,the don and the clerk slid away and had to look for other
incarnations.He learnt from the characters of the story that goodness was a
rare thing in life whereas evil could be found at most places in life.He came
to know that “ human nature is not black and white but black and grey”.He
came to know that perfect evil populated the world but there did not exist
perfect goodness, and only pendulum ensured that after all in the end the justice
was done.
The
writer wished to have selected some other occupation instead of becoming a
writer but what was the use of wishing that.So the books are always there, the
moment of crisis awaits, and now our children in their turn are taking down the
future and are opening the pages.And these books will act in the same way as
they have shown the path to the writer like crystal globe which clearly
indicates the way for a child because these books are like a map in the wild
jungle of childhood ans a child traces his way through these guides and follows
them.
Prepared by :Syeda Misbah Kazmi
