Joey Pigza Swallowed The Key: Character Analysis

While reading children’s book growing up, I always tried to pick out characters who I thought were like me. I’d find something that we had in common -- maybe we had similar families or had the same interests -- and then compare that character’s life to my own. I figured these children’s book characters were supposed to be “normal” children who I could even believe could be real children somewhere. I found myself starting to do this this same thing in the books the class read this semester, especially with “Beezus and Ramona” and “Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key.” But after taking a post-colonial lens to the books, I realized that I cannot judge if I lived my childhood correctly by looking at book characters. These books stand as one person’s interpretation of childhood, and because we all experience life so differently, children

Her mother also tells her that Beezus will eventually become a good, mature adult. In Gantos’s book, Joey is constantly being told to sit still, follow rules and be good. For example, on page 88, Joey says that he wants “A Joey dog. A nice, springy dog. A good dog.” On page 89, Joey follows the rules his mother set for him so he can be “a good boy.” On page 99, Joey says that “It was trouble that got” him sent to the special education school, and Special Ed said it will be “staying out of trouble” that will get Joey out. Being good, staying out of trouble and listening to rules are seen as positives in both books. The authors are telling children that these are qualities that children should possess in order to be “normal” children with a successful childhood. By doing so, children’s literature authors are teaching children how to act, for that is how adults want children to act. The want for these characters to be good is coming from an adult, and the outlook a real child would have on behavior is