The Just William stories written by Richmal Crompton in 1922 are episodic plots which are meant for children ages 9 and older, (however the Just William books were not written for just children and were originally written for adults with the intention of being comical by using period British humour).
The collection of stories focus on the main character named William Brown – an 11 year old mischievous middle class school boy. No matter how hard William Brown tries, his school uniform always looks tatty and disreputable, he mangles the English language in his speech and writing, and he can never remember any of the rules he's supposed to be following. Along with his gang, the Outlaws, he spends his days contriving schemes to make money, trying to get out of doing schoolwork, musing about the fact that girls are a different species and being generally misunderstood by teachers and all other adults.
The vocabulary used is sophisticated with an observation of satirical views. An array of old fashioned words and phrases are featured across the short stories which is appropriate considering it is set in the era it was written in (1920’s – post WW1). [Time slip to show events in different time periods]. Insight is offered into aspects of the British class system, with common old fashioned behaviour, dress and social norms portrayed through the use of language. The language level is possibly complex for such a young audience, however, with the transformation of language over the years, it may have been more understandable with a clearer flow sixty years ago as opposed to modern times.
The illustrations are by Thomas Henry whose signature commonly appears underneath each drawing. The illustrations seem to compliment the text by portraying specific occurrences within each short story. Although the drawings represent sketches, have no colour and generally only fill half a page, emotion and a clear understanding are still represented. Characteristics are also signified clearly, especially for Williams’s character.
The storylines are plausible for both children living in the 1920’s and those modern day children also with some exceptions such as the rise of technology nowadays (William tends to play unchaperoned with his friends outside). However, the logic of schoolboys at trouble in school and getting up to mischief with friends is interesting as well as somewhat representative of a majority of 11 year old boys despite the time period. Although Just William is a collection of short stories, the series of events unfold clearly with a set of convincing occurrences.
Covert messages could be the nature of the family, gender roles, as well as attitudes to social class. Also, while William is a mischief-maker, he never actually does anything really criminal and therefore other messages include; is he given license to do what he does by others because he is a middle class boy in a boys will be boys’ kind of way? Or is he a huge embarrassment to his family?
Just William can be criticised because in some stories he is cruel to animals. For example, in one story he paints his dog blue as a circus exhibit. In another he has a competition to see how many rats his dog can kill in a certain time. In addition, the characters in Just William never seem to age which could possibly cause some boredom. Moreover, the Just Williams stories are possibly more interesting for boys because they may share values and identify with the main character, however females may also enjoy the stories and see William as brave or charming.
Overall, I enjoyed the Just William stories very much as they were well written with a large vocabulary of new and old words. I found that the humour is quite subtle but very successful. I like how William gets into all sorts of adventures and trouble. I also appreciated the imagination of the era it was set in and the differences between children and adults living in the 1920’s compared to children living nowadays. Although I enjoyed reading the book, the stories seem to be slightly mixed up with some characters names and descriptions changes throughout the stories. Similarly, some words and phrases were obsolete which at some points made the story complicated to follow. Nevertheless, a thoroughly pleasant read. In relation to time and plot development, sometimes William just plays or goes to the shops for no apparent development to plot – this was sometimes misleading and frustrating.
The collection of stories focus on the main character named William Brown – an 11 year old mischievous middle class school boy. No matter how hard William Brown tries, his school uniform always looks tatty and disreputable, he mangles the English language in his speech and writing, and he can never remember any of the rules he's supposed to be following. Along with his gang, the Outlaws, he spends his days contriving schemes to make money, trying to get out of doing schoolwork, musing about the fact that girls are a different species and being generally misunderstood by teachers and all other adults.
The vocabulary used is sophisticated with an observation of satirical views. An array of old fashioned words and phrases are featured across the short stories which is appropriate considering it is set in the era it was written in (1920’s – post WW1). [Time slip to show events in different time periods]. Insight is offered into aspects of the British class system, with common old fashioned behaviour, dress and social norms portrayed through the use of language. The language level is possibly complex for such a young audience, however, with the transformation of language over the years, it may have been more understandable with a clearer flow sixty years ago as opposed to modern times.
The illustrations are by Thomas Henry whose signature commonly appears underneath each drawing. The illustrations seem to compliment the text by portraying specific occurrences within each short story. Although the drawings represent sketches, have no colour and generally only fill half a page, emotion and a clear understanding are still represented. Characteristics are also signified clearly, especially for Williams’s character.
The storylines are plausible for both children living in the 1920’s and those modern day children also with some exceptions such as the rise of technology nowadays (William tends to play unchaperoned with his friends outside). However, the logic of schoolboys at trouble in school and getting up to mischief with friends is interesting as well as somewhat representative of a majority of 11 year old boys despite the time period. Although Just William is a collection of short stories, the series of events unfold clearly with a set of convincing occurrences.
Covert messages could be the nature of the family, gender roles, as well as attitudes to social class. Also, while William is a mischief-maker, he never actually does anything really criminal and therefore other messages include; is he given license to do what he does by others because he is a middle class boy in a boys will be boys’ kind of way? Or is he a huge embarrassment to his family?
Just William can be criticised because in some stories he is cruel to animals. For example, in one story he paints his dog blue as a circus exhibit. In another he has a competition to see how many rats his dog can kill in a certain time. In addition, the characters in Just William never seem to age which could possibly cause some boredom. Moreover, the Just Williams stories are possibly more interesting for boys because they may share values and identify with the main character, however females may also enjoy the stories and see William as brave or charming.
Overall, I enjoyed the Just William stories very much as they were well written with a large vocabulary of new and old words. I found that the humour is quite subtle but very successful. I like how William gets into all sorts of adventures and trouble. I also appreciated the imagination of the era it was set in and the differences between children and adults living in the 1920’s compared to children living nowadays. Although I enjoyed reading the book, the stories seem to be slightly mixed up with some characters names and descriptions changes throughout the stories. Similarly, some words and phrases were obsolete which at some points made the story complicated to follow. Nevertheless, a thoroughly pleasant read. In relation to time and plot development, sometimes William just plays or goes to the shops for no apparent development to plot – this was sometimes misleading and frustrating.