The Happiest Days Of Your Life Analysis

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Vitally, it is exceedingly requisite to be the arbiter of your own fate, and to pursue your own utterly independent objectives in life. In the short story “The Happiest Days of Your Life”, which is written by the author Penelope Lively, a young obedient and submissive boy is with his parents at st Edward’s Preparatory School in Sussex with the intentioned aim of observing the boarding school and if proceeding according to the plan he should be registered. However, the boy seems to be copiously displeased with the situation, however, he does not signify his disapproval to his inattentive parents. The author depicts the vital importance of determining your own fortune and having your own life in the palm of your hand, contrarily, if the opposite is the prevalent case and others is the arbiter of your fate, …show more content…
Recognizably, the title is “The Happiest Days of Your Life”, which is in accordance with the given interpretation remarkably ironic due to the fact that the protagonist manifestly is not elated by the present circumstances. Furthermore, the title “your life” and not “my life”, which suggests a life controlled by other people deprived of personal individual liberty. Significantly, the protagonist’s aversion and despondency is suggested in the following quotation: “The child does not answer. . . […] … His face is haggard with anticipation. “Next term, we'll mash you”” (p. 5 ll. 130-131). In conclusion, the title is closely related and associated with the thesis statement, and the fact that the young protagonist is deprived of following his own desires in life. Additionally, the parents utterly control the protagonist’s life without paying attention to their son. Apparently, the story is also a criticism of the parents’ influence, and unfortunately, the protagonist’s parents seem completely beyond

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