My notable moment is from chapter 5. The children have taken a short cut through the city and run into two boys named Urb and Ike, who took the Phoenix out of Robert's pocket. The children try to get the Phoenix back from the naughty boys, but give up very quickly.
- "Phoenix - dear Phoenix, we can't do anything. You must manage it." p118
The children have relied very heavily on the Phoenix since its appearance in their life. He has warned them and saved them quite a few times already, and I feel like the children are taking advantage of him. Then, when the Phoenix needs the children to save him from something very small, they decide they cannot help him in return. The children in the story seem to be blessed with finding interesting and magical things when they are bored, but then treat them without much respect. They ignored the Phoenix about how many wishes the carpet will grant in one day, and then when they run out of wishes they depend solely on the Phoenix for saving. Also, when the Phoenix decides he wants to rest, the children cannot let him have the full time he asks for before deciding they need him back. They always put their needs and wishes before those of the Phoenix. Selfish children are not an uncommon thing, but i feel that these children should have grown from their previous experience with magical beings.
I take your point, but what if you think of the magical beings as "toys"? On the other hand, perhaps there is something to be said about objectification of sentient beings. The phoenix and the carpet have feelings, and the phoenix can express them. But the children do seem to objectify them. Why? Maybe because they are things out of books? Perhaps because they are not real? It is an interesting question.
ReplyDeleteI think the children do treat the Phoenix and the carpet as 'toys'. Instead of treating them as things that have feelings and needs of their own, the children only think of what they can get out of them. That is the whole point of a toy-what can it do to entertain you. I do not think the children consider magical beings as things out of books, because they seem to be a regular occurance in their lives. However, they do treat them all very selfishly. I am sure that is common among children, I just think the selfishness comes across very strong in this book. I would not want to teach my own children to act that way around new 'playmates'.
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