For my research paper, I was thinking about the unique perspective of children as narrators. Both Maisie in James’ novel and Vardaman in Faulkner’s novel offer a distinctive point of view of the events which occur. Children are typically very observant and aren’t bogged down by the ‘rules’ of society. I’m not too knowledgeable about children’s literature, but I know that during and prior to the Victorian era, children were exploited and not thought of as important human beings (I think). Maisie and Vardaman’s narratives counter the naiveté simplicity thought of children. Both of them navigate their world astutely connecting the dots and thinking complexly about their relationships with those around them, Maisie doesn’t resign herself to being a pawn and makes decisions for her well being; Vardaman thinks about death and non-death (existence) through the fish he caught in the beginning of the novel.

I was thinking of using Piaget’s stage of development to analyze Maisie and Vardaman. Or intertextually compare and contrast them.

I suppose my main question relates to how child narrators offer a unique perspective, or how their perspectives differ from the adults about them.