Kindly Influence and Personal Healing in 'Goodnight Mister Tom' Jeremy Sujanto 9th Grade

Child negligence can cause long term fear which may result in nightmares and flashbacks of the incident. During World War II parents in Britain often sent their children to live with foster parents in rural areas in order to escape the effects the war caused in urban cities. Goodnight Mister Tom (1981) written by Michelle Magorian is a historical fiction novel that explores the damage caused as a result of child abuse and further promotes the power of love to heal an individual, emotionally scarred from a troubled childhood.

Child negligence is a form of physical and mental abuse inflicted on a minor which may have a significant effect on their identity and personality development. Willie in Goodnight Mister Tom effecting his personality, confidence and social skills extremely has been abused both physically and mentally by his disdainful mother. Willie is talking very harshly about himself as he is scared upon the expectations that he thinks Uncle Tom has set for him behaviour due to the fact that he thinks the way his mother has raised him is normal, “‘I must be good,’ he whispered urgently, ‘I must be good,’. He was such a bad boy, he knew that. Mum said she was ‘kinder’ to him than most mothers.” Willie expresses the mental...