Number The Stars By Don Latham: Article Analysis

Article Review The article ´´Childhood Under Siege: Lois Lowry´s Number the Stars and The Giver´´ by Don Latham published in The Lion and The Unicorn in 2002 critically analyzes the complexity of childhood. In order to do that, Latham studies the main characters of both novels; Annemarie from Number the Stars and Jonas from The Giver. Initially, Latham contrasts the childhood definitions given by historians in different periods of time, ´´Historians, tell us that the way we view childhood is not the way other cultures in other times and places have viewed it´´ (Latham 1). After that, Latham reviews the plot of both novels analyzing a variety of circumstances that influence the youthful characters to act different ways; at certain moments Jonas and Annemarie´s responses are as expected from a child and other times they would react maturely enough as if they were adults facing the situation.

Historians base their explanations on different time periods and cultures; some of them consider the children´s innocence as a treasure to be protected and others state that children are young adults. Latham starts by studying the term childhood through the novel Number the Stars; here the character of a young lady named Annemarie faces multiple dangerous situations that forces her to role-play an adult when she is still a child. Next, Latham reviews a young boy named Jonas on the novel The Giver; this character faces adulthood tasks imposed by his community at a young age. Latham critically analyzes both characters and the situations they confront at an early age that forces them to act as adults when still being