Kid Heroes
Harry Potter is, perhaps, the most famous young literary hero today. Then there is the phenomenal Hunger Games. By the end of my Magickeepers, Koyla does an incredibly foolhardy and yet utterly brave thing.
And I wondered about the courage of children.
Which brought be back to being lost at sea.
Swear this is a true story. I even have the press clipping.
I used to live in Bermuda as a child. For those who don't know, Bermuda is a tax haven. A place where foreign companies use tax loopholes. Monaco is the same thing. My dad moved us there at the behest of a company he worked for before he started his own business. Enough said.
For those who don't know, it is about 21 miles long and 2 miles wide. That's it. In the middle of the ocean. Two miles. Demon Baby could walk that in an hour.
My best friend at the time had a father who was a diver. So he took us out one afternoon for what was supposed to be a three-hour tour. Just kidding. That's Gilligan's Island. But just for a pre-dinner ride out to the shipping lanes in his dive dinghy, which had an outboard motor. We took her dog along, too.
We got out to the shipping lane, watched a big ship go off toward the ocean, rode the waves (the whole point) and headed back at dusk. We had no water. No food. Okay, in hindsight, he dad was dumb. The motor conked. And wouldn't start. He tried 20 times before giving up.
Her dad made the decision that there were so many boats, we'd just wait for rescue. This as we drifted and drifted. Every time a boat went by, we'd scream and wave and stand up. And every time, they just didn't SEE us.
And at some point, as the sun was setting, I guess he made a calculated decision that if we didn't try to row home, we would be lost at sea, caught up in a big current. So he and two 10-year-old girls with ZERO upper arm strength, started to row home. He rowed until his palms bled and then asked us to take turns. I remember sitting astride the rubber of the dinghy, trying to coordinate the strokes so we wouldn't turn in circles. I remember the occasional jellyfish sting on my calf. Sunburn from that afternoon, and very, very parched lips. I remember, most especially, being really, really hungry. We had long since missed dinner.
At some point, his poor wife had to call my parents and deliver the news that we . . . hadn't come home. Knowing my father, I am assuming he tried to be mellow, but I imagine that he was already considering placing a hit on her father as soon as we got back. If we got back.
At some point, it felt like we were making no progress. None. For every stroke, the current was pushing us back. So her father gave us a pep talk about really leaning into the oars. And eventually, around 11:00 p.m., we realized we were going to reach the canal behind their house. We were going to be safe. I remember a pot roast dinner I ravenously ate. Sore arms. Being really, really tired. And I remember her dad saying we had a good story to tell our friends.
But here's the thing. I was never afraid. Not once. I think I had faith in her diver father, who knew the ocean (though now, really? The guy should have had food and water!). I could see the speck of the island and as long as I saw it, I guess I supposed we'd get to it.
And here's what I know. If that happened to me and my kids NOW, you would have no idea of the panic:
A) I can't row. (STILL no upper arm strength.)
B) I know very little about the ocean and have no sense of direction, as in N-S-E-W.
C) My CHILDREN!!!!!
The weight of adulthood gives us a serious case of the what-ifs, particularly once you have kids.
So I take this lesson back to writing about kid heroes . . . I sometimes think they are MORE capable than adults. The adults are filled with the worries of what-if, the kids filled with a passion that convinces them they are invincible. I find the actions of kid heroes to be completely plausible.
The other week, LurkerMonkey told me that he doesn't find it plausible when people keep pushing on for altruistic reasons in certain situations in books. When everyone else--sensible people--would have quit and said, "This is inconveniencing me too much." To be fair, we were discussing one particular book I am working on and he's likely right. But I guess I add the caveat . . . sometimes, kids will surprise you. Maybe, like Demon Baby, they really run the world and we're just their drones.
Thoughts?
26 comments:
I don't need or even necessarily want photographic realism in fiction. Books are often wild exaggerations of reality, and I don't have a problem with that.
Strong motivations are crucial to begin with, I think, but once they're established I can follow a character to hell and back and believe every word.
I have no problem with courageous characters. In fact, I think fear, illness, and other such obstacles often get in the way of a great yarn. Sometimes I'm thinking, I know you're scared, but just get on with it!!
In my experience, and I've been in a few dangerous situations due to sports I play, where I live, etc, kids take their cue from the adults around them. I've seen kids follow their parents into needless panic, and I've seen them shrug off serious situations. My guess is that you weren't scared because kids don't have the perspective of what being lost at sea truly means, but mostly because the dad kept his cool.
Starbucks is right. I believe they actually teach this in crowd control. The problem is, it's hard to control your own fears. That's why leaders & heroes are admired. They can do this when ordinary people panic.
Jude:
Absolutely. I think like that too.
E
Sex Scenes:
I think that's where we get LEADERS. I mean . . . if you look at once Harry Potter begins training kids in secret and LEADING them, they have faith in him.
E
Richmond:
Absolutely.
So are leaders born or made, or both?
E
I've been thinking about this very issue recently ... I know this is probably different for everybody, but for me, moral courage is frequently born from anger. And anger is often born from injustice ... Harry Potter was plenty angry at Voldemort for killing his parents. He even refused to use He Who Shall Not Be Named from the very first.
In books, I think this translates into the kid having to experience some kind of injustice done to themselves, so they are able to translate their normal rebellious energy (which is typically directed at parents) to the source of that injustice (Voldemort, the Games, whatever). I don't think kids are any more or less brave than adults in general -- but they are certainly less aware of consequences. And I think that once someone has committed themselves to a cause, fear becomes secondary, something that must be controlled. It's still there, but not the central feature.
I contrast this kind of courage against the courage displayed by that pilot who recently dumped his plane in the Hudson, or when you hear military types or firefighters talk about heroism. They almost always say the same thing: "I didn't have much time to be scared, and I relied on my training." It's always about the training ...
Thanks for mentioning Hunger Games. I'm just an old gizzard and I don't know all the YA books. This one sounds really interesting. I've marked it to read.
And again I find myself agreeing with LurkerMonkey. Many children have a special indignation at injustice. It is as if in the growing up process we become inured to the nasty parts of the world. (That's a generalization. Not true of everybody, of course.)
I agree with the logic that kids follow cues from adults' behavior, along with the idea that they don't always understand the impact dangerous situations can have.
I remember "rock climbing" near Mt. Rushmore with my brother & sister when I was 8. We were at least 100 feet up and they were trying to help me get my foot on a ledge near my shoulder. I slipped, lost my balance, and started to fall backwards. My brother grabbed me, we didn't think much of it, and kept climbing. It wasn't until my sister fell and cut her entire leg that we realized maybe we should go back to the campsite.
Luker:
Brilliant analysis.
In Magickeepers, my hero is angry at more than a few things--having no choice about his new life, being snatched from his old life, and eventually anger at discovering the truth about his mom . . . which then gets really poured into an anger at one person, and a decision to become who he is destined to become.
In real life, I have to say, I would panic in a lifeboat with my kids. BUT, you are right . . . after 18 years of training as a mom, I do not freak out over their health things. I stay calm the times they have been in the hospital and so on. I call on all I know as a mother, all that training. Whereas, I have had friends--new parents--who freak out over a sniffle. They just need more training.
E
Joe:
It's a very lean, brilliant book.
E
Leadership is a really fun thing to explore in fiction. I have one character in particular who resists and resists. People tend to follow him because he inherited a position of authority. But they REALLY follow him, to the death, when he takes the reins.
This goes along with my belief that sometimes, too much information is not a good thing. In childhood we rely on our instincts, in our inherent belief in good and in the power to achieve anything. C'mon how many kids think they're going to be professional athletes? My son didn't realize he wouldn't be a major league baseball player til he was about 15. That's the beauty of childhood --- trust in what is possible, sometimes without question.
In fiction I think it's ok to strip away some of the adult barriers, to show readers what can be, or maybe what should be.
When I was a child, my 2nd-floor bedroom led to a sun porch with a white wooden railing around it. I used to WALK on the top rail. My neighbor saw me once and screamed at me to get off. I jumped off, but thought it was funny that she was so scared.
Now I'd be that screaming neighbor.
So, yes, I believe children are brave. We don't believe we'll fail. At least I didn't.
Even now, with writing, I don't believe I'll fail. That's what keeps me writing against the tide.
I truly wish kids ran the world! They usually play nice, cut to the chase in an honest way, and have the power of belief behind them. I'm always learning from my grandchildren.
I have no clue when fear enters the game of life, but it's a bugger!
I've actually got a fantasy children's novel, and sometimes I think about revising it. I think it was pretty decent. But of course I'd need ANOTHER pen name, and right now, I think I have my plate full. Plus I don't really foresee myself writing more than one children's novel and it's supposed to be a trilogy.
We learned in my "Stress Management Through Exercise" class (and would you believe, we HAVE to exercise?) that at birth, humans breathe diaphragmatic. Lungs fill fully with each breath, exhale completely - essential part of relaxation, BUT by the time humans start kindergartner, they no longer naturally breathe that way. Sadly, they also stop laughing as much. :(
I blame adults. "Stand straight, stomach in, shoulders back." That's what a kid is trained to do whether in band, dance or...Catholic school. Adults teach fear to children.
I grew up on a farm, where we climbed 50 foot ladders, leapt into hay bales, and some of us tried riding the cows.
I no longer do those things. :)
Yep, I blame all the adults, nuns included, for making me grow up and be afraid, be very afraid.
Kids are the most amazing, courageous, and strongest people I know. Seriously, I teach adults and children, and I've met MANY amazing adults--the top of their field, AMAZING role models for women and girls everywhere--but not a single one holds a candle to the inner strength of a child.
I think my main goals in life are to never impose a limitation on a child or let my own issues become part of a child's issues. Kids can do far more than we think is possible.
Sex Scenes:
Leadership, I am realizing, is a huge issue in my Magickeepers books. I hadn't 'seen" that when I first wrote the story bible, but I am fnding that so much of it is about humility in leaders . . . and courage.
E
Amy:
In childhood--or at least healthy childhoods--everything is a possibility.
E
Edie:
LOL! I'd be the screamer too now!
E
LaDonna. . . .
I don't know. Sometimes as a mom with young kids . . . you see the cruelty of children. I don't know if that's taught--or survival of the fittest. Interesting to consider.
E
Kath:
I took a biofeedback course for three months--was taught how to breathe healthy again! When I was taking it, I had the word BREATHE on post-its all over the house.
E
spy:
Totally agree with you there.
E
Fear itself is an interesting thing. I look at it as a necessary evil. Too much can be paralyzing, but too little can be dangerous as well.
I agree with Kath that adults often instill fear into children, but sometimes that fear is justified. Fear is what keeps kids from talking to strangers who might kidnap them, for example.
I find the balance between fear and heroism fascinating in children because they're still learning what fear is and how to find that healthy balance.
P.S. LaDonna, I can't say I'd want kids to run the world. Read Lord of the Flies or watch an episode of "Kid Nation" and you'll see why!
I love this story, and its sentiment is one that will make you a great children's book writer.
I wonder if your friend's father were worried--I mean, *really* worried, or if he just took this in stride. It sounds like he was in denial at the beginning.
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