Childhood Nostalgia in Literature

Extract

[...] But the fact that Bérenger refuses to accept reality and locks himself in the nostalgia of his childhood will generate a deep anxiety in him, just like the case for the character of J.M. Barrie, who by refusing to grow up, will prevent himself from living the joys of adult life, such as a romantic relationship with Wendy, who has grown up and is not nostalgic for the period of her childhood, while Peter Pan refuses anything that would make him grow, as he expresses to Wendy:I don't want to go to school to learn serious things. I don't want to become a man. [...]

[...] Barrie and Ionesco, parallel the idealized period of childhood and the reality of the adult world. The two authors explore the poignant nostalgia of their characters for this luminous period of childhood, where carelessness and freedom seemed infinite, but which becomes irretrievably inaccessible with the passing of time. It appears in the three works a huge desire to relive this magical period that is childhood, but that refusing to live in the present, one finds oneself alone, sad and nostalgic, with a feeling of immense powerlessness and despair. [...]

[...] In parallel, the character Bérenger, created by Ionesco and finding himself in the two works Tueur sans gage and The King Dies, refuse to see a perfect, wonderful, and above all, luminous world being destroyed by tracking a killer who kills without reason or interest, which seems senseless to childish eyes, as shown by Bérenger's phrase: 'But' why do you kill all these people? [ . ] Why do you persist in destroying the light, the beauty? I don't understand I need to understand 3 ». Through his story, in Murderer Without Apparent Motive, Ionesco seeks to show how the adult world is black and filled with sadness and incoherence, while that of childhood appears luminous and radiant: how would one want to leave an ideal world to live in that of the brutal adults? It appears here that Ionesco and J.M. [...]

[...] In his play, Ionesco tends to demonstrate how, by refusing reality and seeking at all costs an ideal but past world, this only generates pain and nostalgia, and brings us neither comfort nor relief. Ionesco, like J.M. Barrie, illustrates how refusing to grow up and indulging in illusions related to our childhood memories prevents us from simply being happy by living in the present moment, Meanwhile, Ionesco, through Bérenger, will illustrate how the human being always hopes for a better and brighter world, despite the evidence that appears to him. [...]

[...] What have I done with my life6 ?». However, always hoping for a return to childhood, the two authors demonstrate how this hope is only an illusion, which ultimately causes even more suffering. Peter Pan is forced to remain alone in his country: this shows that wanting to stay in childhood all our lives ends up being out of sync with reality, with others, and we end up living alone. Wanting to keep the light of childhood would be just an illusion. [...]