Dan, Ajla, Maid, Dunja, Joanna

The Badness Within Him

by Susan Hill

Theme: Male Adolescence

The restlessness of adolescence: frustration with routine and being caught in

between childhood and adulthood Cols desire for a storm or some kind of
change to the hot, sunny weather that seemed dragging (adolescence)

aggression and violence against his family

the end of childhood

Oedipus Complex - Also allusion to Oedipus complex, where son feels

rivalry with his father and siblings for his mothers attention.

Purpose:
To reflect on Cols rationalization of his fathers death. Clearly, there is no
connection between his fathers unfortunate accident and Cols desire for
swift change. However, with his fathers death, the chance for Col to be a
child is lost and with no other means of rationalizing such an irreversible
event, he sees his fathers death as a punishment for his wish for change
and his negative behavior within his family during adolescence.
To define the badness within him; good vs evil and the more implicitly,
the position of man before traditional constructions of God - prayer and
punishment

Col saw his father drowning but was emotionally distant until the very end of
the story where he cathartically weeps. He blames himself: I am punished.
finally he knew the power of the `Badness within him`.

But even while he prayed he had known that there could be no answer
because of `The badness within him `.

Structure:
Chronological style combined with few flashbacks in which Col remembers his
childhood and family when he was younger. From the starting point of the prayer to
Cols response to his prayer after it is fulfilled within the space of 24 hours.

Can be divided into three parts childhood, present (before fathers death) and
uncertain future (after fathers death).

He thinks back on the past, were he felt good time in the summerhouse, were
he felt like being apart of the family, while Cole and Jess still were fitting
together, and able to have fun and enjoy their time together. (Refer to quotes in
section mood).

Imagery:
1.the Cliff his (self-)alienation from his family; his ability to view his life and
family from a detached and distanced view where he is large and everyone he sees
is beneath him. Col has a superiority complex, believing that his family is
content with routine and uninteresting activities
2. sandcastle (metaphor for the family), the tower coming down first. A castle
made of sand is fragile his family relationships are unstable. He kicks the
sandcastle (He wanted to do some violence in this house) and the tower falls first
the tower represents his father which is a foreboding of his fathers pending
accident and death. It also relates to Oedipus complex where absent/dead fathers
are connected to the male childs desire for the mothers attention
3. colors which represented Col's family used when he was looking at the dots
from the cliff
4. Badness analogy: like a cancer illness/madness of adolescence. But even
while he prayed he had known that there could be no answer, because of the
badness within him, a badness which was living and growing like a cancer

5. Black dog on his shoulder A perfectly enormous, coal black, monster of a

dog - a black dog has often been associated with evil or the Devil. This is another
allusion to Cols badness. (NOTE: BADNESS is an informal word. The correct term is
evil. Good vs evil). A dog is also an animal or a beast which has the connotation of being
irrational and possibly violent
6. Analogy sea still like glass. Stillness/stagnation/paralysis of adolescence is likened
to glass that can be shattered in a moment, which is what happens when Cols father dies.
7. The house metaphor for the family. See characterization setting.
8. The weather represents Cols state of mind (see Characterisation of setting)
9. the storm change/ drastic change from the hot summer

Mood:
Depressive the tone is desperate and hopeless in the beginning when he
prays. The tone is also angry and frustrated.

Nostalgic when he reminisces about the time when they were all younger (flash

backs), the mood/his mind seems to change into a happier state, when he
thinks about the time he spent with his sister, Jess, in their summerhouse
when they were younger, He and Jess had collected buckets full of sea
creatures from the rock pools and put them into a glass aquarium in the
scullery; He and Jess had sat up all night by moon or candles
watching them.

oppressive present situation, his adolescence

tense, dark and ominous as if a storm were brewing his aggressive
behavior; tone is one of anger, frustration and rage

vacant/emotionless after the fathers death - tone: detached

cathartic when he weeps and realizes that it is the end of his childhood as
he had longed for. Tone hopeless, regretful, guilt-ridden

Characterization:

Col
o

frustrated - For days now Col had wanted to quarrel. How he

ever been able to bear it? And he cast about, in his frustration, for
some terrible events, as he felt the misery welling up inside him at
the beginning of another day. I hate it here.).

confused with his familys dislike and alienation of him: (Jess

looked up slowly. This year for the first time, Col felt the
difference in age between them, Jess was changing moving away
from him, to join the adults), ( when Jess sits and play with the
baby together with Fay and the mom where he is left out of the
play)

attention-seeking male adolescent lacking his family's attention: His

violent actions seem to be a cry for attention: What is happening
with me? Why do I have these thoughts? Why do I have
these feelings, a part of the fact of going from childhoodadulthood)

o Experiences an awful feeling of rejection: always get pushed

away, no one is there for him, in the sand castle episode, his mom
pushes him away, instead of asking him what is wrong,Why
dont you go have a swim? Cant you find something to do? I
really dislike you just hovering over us like that or the example
with Jess has been growing away from him, the person that he
used to have is suddenly gone )
o

Feels violent: (He wanted to do some violence in this house he

hated his family)

o Has a very negative/low self-perception believes that his prayers

will not be answered because of his badness. Believes that his

fathers death is his fault because of his badness. The fog horn
sounded outside. Then he knew that the change had come, knew
that the long hot summer was at an end, and that his childhood
had ended to, that they would never come back to this house
again. He knew, finally the power of the badness within him, and
because of that , standing close to his fathers body, he wept.

Jess-his sister. She is few years older than he is. She used to be close to Col
when they were younger children but she does not want to play with him

anymore. Jess had already passed through adolescence and now has learnt
to fit into the world of grown-ups.

Fay-his other sister. She had just given birth so her whole attention is on her
baby as is the attention of his familys. The baby represents the other
extreme in the continuum between child and adult. Col is caught right in
between.

Mother- spends a lot of her time with the sister. Pushes Col away during the
sandcastle incident on the beach when he starts behaving anti-socially

Father hardly any mention of him except that he joins the family in the
afternoon after work. Suggests the absence of the fathers attention. His
death relates to Oedipus complex see Characterisation, sandcastle.

Family- typical modern family with lack of time for children

Setting:
o weather reflects Cols state of mind e.g. hot summer (summer is
the middle of the year in the northern hemisphere) oppressive
stagnation, fog uncertainty of the future. The fog alarm suggests a
warning of an uncertain future
o house and rooms Reflects the familys state. Col reflects on the
different parts of the house in their past and present states. The
house used to be well- maintained but is now in poor condition,
dilapidated and untidy - the deck chairs. There is one room which is
well-maintained where he feels most comfortable and nostalgic in it.

Narration:
Third person, sympathetic with Cols point of view.
Narrator: The narrator could be an older Col reflecting on the child, Col, in
hindsight
Tone: See Mood
Questions on the restlessness of adolescence:

Why is he praying for bad weather and storms? (Is he praying for
something bad to happen? What is the storm?

Why does he go to the cliff?

Why does he feel guilty?

What is the badness within him?