For my final year project I have chosen the popular children’s book “The Borrowers” written by Mary Norton to explore as a text. The first book in a series of five was published in 1952. For my adaptation, I will be studying the first and second book in the series which follows the Clock family on their adventures.
The Clocks are a family of Borrowers who live under the floorboards of a large country house. They borrow whatever they need from the "Human Beans” that live in the house upstairs (Norton, 1952). They utilise anything they can get their hands on and inventively apply it to their needs. From the food they eat, the house they live in, and the clothes they wear; all items once had a previous purpose and life. The borrowers are very resourceful and see the potential of any object. In the book, it describes match-boxes being used as chest of drawers and cotton reels as stools (Norton, 1952). To begin with Pod, the father and “provider” of the Clock family, is the only borrower in the family who ventures out into the house to go borrowing. However Arrietty, an only child, soon becomes curious of what lies behind the gates that lock her in her own home. Pod finally agrees to take her borrowing much to the dismay of worrisome mother Homily.
…show more content…
Arrietty even becomes friends with “The boy” upstairs who helps them borrow items from a disused dollhouse. (Norton, 1952) However their comfortable life is suddenly jeopardised when they are “seen” by Mrs Drivers, the stern and menacing housekeeper. They must relocate to “the wild” in order to save themselves from being captured by the humans. The second in the series of books follows the Clock family as they struggle to adapt to “wild” life. They encounter new sights, surroundings, bugs and even meet another borrower, Spiller. (Norton,