Translating Grandfather's House Analysis

Have you ever felt like you weren’t heard? Translating Grandfather’s House is a short story to help people understand children’s point of view. This story is the most significant story out of the ones that we read because it shows the struggle of children trying to communicate to adults, changing for someone else, and being a child. It is hard for children to communicate to adults because adults will not always believe that the child is telling the truth. In Translating Grandfather’s house, this boy draws a picture of his grandfather’s house. The teacher says that the house he drew is a house that he saw on the TV show “Zorro”. This is an example of an adult not trusting a child enough to believe him. Adults’ minds have fully matured, whereas, children’s brains are younger and less strict.

The teacher did not want him to draw an unusual house, she wanted a regular house, even if it wasn’t his grandfather’s. The narrator originally drew his grandfather’s house, but after his teacher rejected his drawing, he drew a regular house and got an A+ on his assignment. The narrator changed his drawing so he could get a good grade. He had to translate his drawing so it could be read by an adult mind. Being a child is both restricting and not, compared to adult life. It’s less restricting than adult life because they don’t have to pay bills, buy food, or go to work on Saturdays. But being a child is also restricting because you have less trust from adults. The narrator was not able to successfully communicate his grandfather’s house because he had less trust from his teacher. “Translating Grandfather’s House” portrays the struggle of childhood very descriptively. This short story shows what being a child is like, someone changing for someone else, and some struggles of child life communication. In general, this story exhibits childhood very accurately and professionally. Finally, being a child is great, but it has its