Attitude analysis in a piece of writing helps in defining the intention of an author towards specific characters and themes in the text. The book “The Fantabulous Fens” will be used in this paper to analyze the way attitude is presented by the author. Authors always use diction to portray a given attitude towards someone or something.
The following quote was taken from this book. The decision of choosing specific words or phrases over the others is always meant to create some form of emphasis on what is being described. The quote below was taken from the book mentioned above.
“Daku and Bhoku were experts at doing nothing, and they were doing nothing at the time. They were neither sleeping nor eating nor working nor playing nor watching television: they were simply doing nothing, like they often did.” (Sen 34).
It is important to understand how attitude is created from the above statement. The above quote reflects some form of contempt, especially given the manner in which the author emphasizes on the word nothing. The author creates this attitude by using the word nothing to describe their behavior.
The two are portrayed as lazy individuals who are not able to do anything constructive. They prefer idle sitting, neither playing nor engaging in any active work. This contempt that the author has towards the two individuals is demonstrated in the manner at which their character is defined.
The author gives the perception that Daku and Bhoku would almost sit lifelessly in their house waiting for an opportunity to cause mayhem to active members of the society. This attitude serves to give an overall impression of what the author seeks to achieve in the entire text.
It would be necessary to understand why the author is using this particular attitude. The author is trying to discourage laziness in the society, and the two are used to demonstrate the effect of idleness among active members of the society.
Daku and Bhoku have been used to achieve the goal of the author through their unfortunate eventualities because of being lazy, cunning, and criminal minded. The quote below is a further demonstration of the attitude of the author towards people who shun hard work.
“The ‘little bloke’ had spiky hair. He was the first street urchin in the world to have spiky hair… You good-for-nothing… You son of a bum…” (Sen 34).
In this quote, the author uses some form of irony to depict the attitude he has towards laziness in the society. The irony is presented in the fact that Daku, an individual who has been described as being very lazy, rebukes the street urchin for his laziness and the fact that he contributes nothing to the society.
Even this lazy man appreciates that laziness is a vice that is unacceptable in the society. The way the author uses diction in this sentence helps in demonstrating his feelings towards the street children. The author uses the words little and bloke to describe the street boy.
It would be important to understand how attitude of the author is presented in this second quote. Although the word bloke has a general meaning of a guy, it has a negative connotation and it is mostly used when one is referring to something one has negative attitude towards.
The author finds no difference between the street children and the two lazy individuals named Daku and Bhoku. These two groups represent a lazy crop of people who are living by begging or stealing from other hard working members of the society. Instead of using the term ‘street boy’ or ‘street child’, the author uses the word ‘street urchin’ to describe these street children.
This is a sign of hatred that the author has towards this group of people. The word urchin gives the connotation that this is a group of individuals who causes some form of anarchy within the society. Daku is quick to point out that the street urchin is good for nothing, not realizing that their value to the society is the same.
Daku further refers to the urchin as son of a bum. This is to emphasize on the fact that this street urchin, and his entire family, is of little or no value to the society. Even in the eyes of a lazy man, laziness if a vice that cannot be tolerated if the society is to achieve the desired development..
It would be necessary to analyze why the author decides to portray this attitude toward the lazy individuals. A bum is a person who lives on begging, and is generally considered a burden to other members of the society.
Referring to the boy as a son of a bum is an indication that both the street urchin and his parents have been leading a parasitic life in the society for a long time. They have been of no value to the society as they wait to attack others and rob them of their hard-earned properties.
This hatred is used to discourage this nature of parasitic lifestyle in the society. The author is trying to demonstrate that it is wrong to lazy about, only depending on unscrupulous activities to earn a living.
This is demonstrated throughout the text where this lazy group of people is poised as villains to other morally upright members of the society. Through this, the author seeks to encourage every member of the society to shun laziness.
Works Cited
Sen, Gautam. The Fantabulous Fens. Sydney: ireadiwrite Publishing, 2010. Print.