Introduction
Domestic and adventure fictions have several characteristics that distinguish them from other types of imaginative writing. “One Crazy Summer” and “Hoot” are some of the most intriguing novels that show the features of domestic and adventure fiction. The core need for using the two books is to identify how these two genres have been used in the texts and how they help create a crucial difference from other genres.
Summary of the Novels
“One Crazy Summer” comprises Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, who live in Brooklyn New York. Their father sent them to Oakland, California so they could stay there with their mother, Cecile. Bobby Hutton who was one of the members of the Black Panther was shot by the police and he died while other members were wrongly jailed. The sisters returned home after the San Francisco trip and found their mother and other two members of the Black Panther Party being arrested. The girls performed a poem their mother had written before her arrest. The sisters’ mother is released from jail and returns home, prompting the girls to hug her for the last time as they decide to return home.
In “Hoot”, Roy becomes acquaintances with Dana Matherson in Florida. Motherson is one of the worst-known bullies in the area, a trait that becomes unfortunate for Roy. Motherson presses hard his thumbs against Roy’s temples and pushes him against the school-bus window. While in this situation, Roy observes a boy with “no shoes, no backpack, no books—strange, indeed, on a school day.” (Hiaasen, 2019, p. 6). He chases him to where he meets different creatures that he begins to become attracted to and decides to protect. He becomes friends with Beatrice, who has a connection to the barefoot boy. He later realizes that the boy has relationships with vandalism occurring at the site where some construction was happening and endangered the lives of the burrowing owls. The three children then take the fight to the crooked politicians and police hoping to save the animals.
Characteristics of Domestic and Adventure Fiction
Domestic fiction is evident in the text of “One Crazy Summer” and “Hoot.” Firstly, both novels are set in around the home (Mallett et al., 2019). For instance, “One Crazy Summer” talks about the three sisters, the grandmother, and their mother, while “Hoot” deals with Roy and his other family members leaving Montana for Florida. Secondly, the novels also have elements of social and personal issues that include family and community relationships (Mallett et al., 2019). For instance, Cecile and her sisters were abandoned by their mother and at one point their father sends them to stay for a while with her. On the other hand, Roy enjoys a good lifestyle but is intrigued by that boy who instead of taking the school bus, runs away from it and has no shoes. Thirdly, domestic fictions emphasize social class issues, such as opulence, poverty, and property (Mallett et al., 2019). For instance, the sun is considered a crucial element in the daily lives of the people, since its failure to spin around its axis would result in no harvest among poor farmers and a lack of food for the less privileged.
Domestic fiction also has elements of motivations and psychological knowledge passed to the characters. For instance, Fern asked Cecile why she changed her name. Cecile answers that it was because she considered her name to reflect who she is currently, hence did not see the need for calling herself by an old name. On the other hand, when Curly leaned hard against Roy, Roy managed to beat him, portraying defeat against the bully. Moreover, domestic fictions portray rewards in form of moral or social benefits to the affected parties. For instance, the hugging between Cecile and her daughters depicts she learned the need for loving her family while in prison. Similarly, those who bullied Roy and his friends become fugitives and have to stay on the run with their dirty clothes.
Domestic fiction usually talks about girls and women being the main characters in the story. As evident in “One Crazy Summer,” most of the texts revolve around the three sisters and their mother. In the same way, when the girls go to live with their mother, they encounter other women fighting for their freedom especially because they are sidelined for being black. In “Hoot” Roy meets Beatrice who is also struggling to fight for the rights of endangered animals.
Adventure fictions are evident in different parts of “One Crazy Summer” and “Hoot.” Firstly, both novels take the storyline from the outside of the homestead and make the characters explore exotic distances and journeys (Mallett et al., 2019). The three sisters are sent by their father to go and stay with their mother for a while, though the mother lives in a hostile environment, where she has to join the Black Panther Party to survive. The party experienced various turbulences, and the mother was arrested forcing the sisters to remain homeless for some time to avoid getting into trouble facing the movement. Roy also follows the barefoot boy into the wild, where he encounters owls, crocodiles, and snakes. Secondly, adventure fiction involves surviving dangerous obstacles and retrieving valued goals (Mallett et al., 2019). For example, Roy understood that the owls were endangered and thus had to mobilize his friends to fight against those who were causing harm to the animals. Fern and her sisters also went on a journey to get back to their mother but met several obstacles that made it difficult for them to be with her.
Adventure fictions also involve action and struggle to achieve the desired goals. In the case of Roy, he met several challenges ranging from the police and the construction site to other boys. One of the pieces of evidence of struggle is when Cecile says, “How can you send them to Oakland? Oakland’s nothing but a boiling pot of trouble cooking. All them riots.” (Williams-Garcia & Johnson, 2010, p. 9). In this case, Cecile understands that the situation in Oakland is unconducive for the girls because of the constant struggle for freedom. The sisters witness the harsh condition their mother lives in when they find she is arrested for being a member of the Black Panther Party. Curly had Roy pinned down because of this struggle to attain the course Roy had decided to achieve. Similarly, Fern and her sisters were also forced to join forces with the Black Panther party to help address the plight of the community in which their move lived. When Cecile was arrested, the girls began to be more active in the fight for reformation, which included reciting the poem their mother had written and giving speeches.
Conclusion
Several characteristics distinguish domestic and adventure fiction from other types of novels. Some of the most outstanding attributes of domestic adventure in “One Crazy Summer” and “Hoot” include the setting around the home, touching on social and personal issues, focusing on females, and having rewards in form of morals. The properties of adventure fiction in the two novels include setting outside, involving escape and survival, having extraordinary goals, being associated with dangerous activities and struggle, and focusing on males.
Reference
Hiaasen, C. (2019). Hoot. Pan Macmillan.
Mallett, M., Goodwin, P., & Mallett, D. (2019). Realism: Domestic, adventure and school stories. In Choosing and Using Fiction and Non-Fiction 3–11 (pp. 117-126). Routledge.
Williams-Garcia, R., & Johnson, S. A. (2010). One crazy summer. New York: Amistad.