ENGL 1102 Chapter 4-5: The Water Babies Analysis
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Themes: significance of the prickles, significance of bedonebyasyoudid and doasyouwouldbedoneby, merit of doing what you want vs. doing things you don"t like. I was vaguely reminded of winston"s re-education process in george orwell"s nineteen eighty-four, in which winston is first punished for his actions against oceania and then educated to conduct himself the right way, according to the. The two fairies, bedonebyasyoudid and doasyouwouldbedoneby seem to be analogs for these phases of punishment and re-education, and the name of each fairy alludes to the role they have in the punishment process. Ms. bedonebyasyoudid, represents the retributive part of the cycle, and in a what-goes-around-come-around fashion, deals to all the doctors, foolish ladies and nurserymaids the same malfeasances they have dealt upon other people. After establishing these two roles of bedonebyasyoudid and doasyouwouldbedoneby, it is interesting to see the consequences of tom"s actions, and how he is punished and re-educated.
