Twelfth Birthday Poem Analysis

Growing up can be hard for the child, but it can also be hard for the adults in the child's lives. That’s why the question worth investigating is, how does the journey from adolescence to adulthood affect the relationships with the people around you? The four texts that show how growing up affects your relationships are, Hugo's birthday by Kate Llewellyn, Twelfth birthday by Rachel Hadas, Ursula at Parakakariki by Fiona Farel, and the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.

At the start of the poem, Twelfth birthday, the mother is pregnant with her daughter, she is lying down wondering whether she could could read her daughter's mind, “I could (inconceivable) follow your swift thoughts into their blue immersion even now”. At this …show more content…
Since the Perks of Being a Wallflower is written from the child's perspective we can see how they view their relationships with their friends and family instead of how the mothers view their relationship. This could give us insight on how the child feels when growing up. The quote “i’m thankful that my brother played football on the television so nobody fought” Shows us that Charlie doesn’t have the closest relationship with his family. Charlie's relationship with his parents is similar to the relationships in Twelfth birthday and Hugo's birthday. In Twelfth birthday the mother and daughter aren't very close, the daughter wants to become more independent, this can also be seen in the Perks of Being a Wallflower when Charlie would rather be spending time with his friends at parties rather than with his parents. Since the Perks of Being a Wallflower is written from Charlie's point of view, we have a more authentic perspective on how the journey from adolescence to adulthood affects the relationships with the people around you. Another text which shows a relationship between a child and a parent is Hugo's birthday. Hugo's eighteenth birthday is the first time he has spent time with his mother for a while, similarly Charlie doesnt have a close relationship with his parents, though Charlie's parents are still in his life whereas Hugo's mother isn’t. At the end of both texts the children become closer to their parents than they were at the start. Contrastingly in the poem Ursula at Parakakariki, the mother believes in her daughter and wants the best for her even if that means that she has to let her become more independant. Even though Charlie may have less of a significant and close relationship ship with his parents he still has support from them,