Analysis Of The Hero Of The Book "Kid And Carlson"

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

"Kid and Carlson" is a book familiar to many from childhood.

A toddler is a lonely child who lacks attention, understanding, love and respect from parents and older siblings. Carlson is his unusual close friend.

You can analyze the characters in this book from various angles. As one person who is forced to invent a friend for himself; as communication of real people who have relationships; as different manifested and suppressed processes in the psyche of one person; as existing and desirable qualities for a person …

Today I will consider the heroes of the book as real characters between whom a relationship takes place.

I was talking the other day about books and the conversation turned to Astrit Lindgren's famous book "Kid and Carlson" in Soviet times.

As usual, I began to resent the image and behavior of Carlson, his egocentrism and infantilism, expressing an attitude towards him as a negative hero. And suddenly my opponent take it and be indignant: "Is this Karlson a negative hero ??"

And I learned a new point of view on Carlson.

As a friend who showed the Kid the wonderful world of roofs and attics, took him on exciting adventures, arranged interesting games …

But the Kid, they told me, behaved in places very outrageous, for example, when he was given a dog and he "scored" on his friend Carlson.

As a child, I was very fond of the book about the Kid and Carlson. I read it so many times that I could recite some chapters by heart.

I remember looking out the window of my room in a five-storey apartment building and sadly thinking that, unfortunately, no Carlson could settle on such a roof …

And I was very jealous of the Kid. Who had such an excitingly interesting friend.

Then, having grown up and having touched the world of popular psychology, I began to evaluate the words and behavior of Carlson new from the point of view and somehow became very disappointed in him.

Years passed and the content of the book was gradually forgotten. And in the end, I have, in fact, only an emotional cast of the attitude and feelings from the period when I last thought about this book and its characters. And a glance at Carlson, as on a dude who flew in and ate jam and buns at the Kid and threw one when he began to "smell fried".

Listening to my friend, I realized that I do not remember the dialogues, I do not remember the details that happened in the book.

But most importantly, I realized that I had never looked at Carlson as a character who INSERTED into a relationship with the Kid and who GIVED him something specific and something important.

But, really, he gave it.

Experience of flying over the city.

Knowledge that you can live differently - not in an apartment, but in a small house; not according to the rules that other people define, but freely; to build a "life schedule" and a menu for yourself.)

The experience of playing together, adventures, confronting what you don't like, talking with adults not from the position of a subordinate, but, of course, provocatively, but much more to "on equal terms", plunging them into a stupor by breaking the template of their age superiority.

And I live the second day "with a break in the template".

Realizing how easy it is to be “stamped” in some understandable, familiar and familiar assessment, to believe in it for many years and lose sight of something else, important and valuable.

Have you had similar "recapitulations" in your life?

I want to end my note with the words of my wise friend:

“And if we assume that both are right?

After all, often all sorts of exciting adventures in our lives are brought by far from the most understanding and caring people, and we get a stunningly bright and interesting life complete with emotional irritation, a huge amount of uncertainty and pretty frayed nerves. And vice versa (from the position of Carlson), when you are wild and handsome, and a significant person for you wants to tame you, make you predictability and regularity of visits, otherwise you are "worse than a dog", then this is also so-so life.

In general, there are no good and bad, just life."

And ask you, my dear readers, if you are familiar with this book - how do you feel about its characters? What experiences, thoughts, feelings do they evoke in you?..

Maria Veresk, psychologist, gestalt therapist.