Absent Fathers in Children’s Literature: A Problem?

Absent Fathers in (Children’s) Literature: A New Problem?

A reader reached out to us noting that many of the books we recommended for one of our lists do not have biological fathers present in the books. The reasons for absent fathers* vary, ranging from death (i.e. an orphan, such as Omar in The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams) to outright abdication of fatherhood (in Pay Attention, Carter Jones). Thankfully, the “abdication” issue in Carter Jones is an anomaly; all the other fathers on the book list in question have been neatly removed prior to the start of the story due to forces outside their control.

Friends, absent fathers (and mothers) are not new to children’s and young adult literature. (Even if the parent is still living, if he or she is not present/active for the main story, then he or she is considered absent.) A quick glance at my “classics” shelf yields the following fatherless protagonists: Jim Hawkins (Treasure Island), Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden), Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz), Alice (Alice in Wonderland), the Pevensies (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), Jane Eyre, the March sisters (Little Women), the Waterbury children (Railway Children), the Walker children (Swallows and Amazons), and on and on. Fairy and folk tales are replete with at absent parent constructs: Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Hansel and Gretel. Even Little Red Riding Hood leaves home; her entire adventure occurs without her parents. Sleeping Beauty is squirreled off to live with fairies. In fact, Telemachus spends most of Homer’s Odyssey without his wayward father, Odysseus.

*note: throughout this essay, I focus primarily on fathers; nearly all of this is applicable to absent mothers and/or absent parents in general.

Children’s Literature vs. Middle Grades/Young Adult Literature

Traditionally, children’s literature features more intact families and very “safe” home environments. Ideally, child protagonists face their problems with a strong, stable familial base from which to explore and grapple with the conflict. Charlotte’s Web is a classic example. Others include books like the Melendy Quartet by Enright, The Little House series by Wilder, and others. 

As a book’s reading level/recommended age range reaches the “middle grades” age range (around age 9 through age 12 or so), stories feature protagonists taking those first steps toward differentiating from their parents (which we parents witness during the tumultuous pre-teen years). Children in these books begin to venture forth without same safety net in “children’s” novels; they also face bigger problems. The popular Little Britches series, presents a terrible and tragic trial for the young boy protagonist: his father dies. As such, Little Britches is often recommended for readers ages 10 and up. Anne of Green Gables shows up as an orphan, Alice falls down a rabbit hole away from her parents, Dorothy ends up in Oz without family, and Jim Hawkins ventures forth aboard a ship with none other than the nefarious Long John Silver. 

As readers age and mature, protagonists grow more independent, too, such that teen readers are no longer reading cozy family stories. Instead, they’re reading about brave young men and women facing genuinely tough circumstances. In Kidnapped, the protagonist is forcefully removed from his homeland through the hand of his uncle! Jane Eyre must find her way with no help. The young women in Little Women grow up and start homes of their own. And yet, these books present young men and women maturing into strong men and women who are very masculine/feminine (as appropriate), even without a father or mother (or both) present.

Absent Fathers: Plot Points or Political Points?

I would submit to you that the absence or presence of parents is often a plot point, not a political point. In fact, in Scripture, it’s a Providential point (i.e. Moses grows up in Pharaoh’s house, Esther with her uncle Mordecai, Joseph sold into slavery, etc.).

The real question is not whether the parents are present so much as why those parent figures are missing.

Nearly all of the books on our summer reading list for the Wisdom and Wonder year were written by professing Christians, and what is notable about their works is that the parent-child conflict is not the issue in the books (other than in Pay Attention, Carter Jones). The parents haven’t abdicated their responsibility. Instead, the plot “removes” parents in such a way that the child often longs for that relationship but must go bravely forward. The family structure, in other words, is the ideal; its rupture leaves a lack that must be filled because God has designed us to need that structure.

When fathers are neatly removed prior to the start of the story’s action, through no choice of their own, then the author has simply removed them for the sake of a plot point. When an absent father is a political point, generally the story will make that point quite clear through a very flawed father, a traumatic childhood for the protagonist, or other relationally driven conflicts that dominate the story. In other words, the missing/absent father is one of the central issues of the book, not simply missing. Again, this issue drives much of Pay Attention, Carter Jones in a way that it does not drive the action in a book like 100 Cupboards.

Authors can—and should—provide additional adult figures (particularly father figures) that aid the young protagonists in maturing, developing courage, and growing in wisdom. For instance, in 100 Cupboards, Henry lives with his own (extended) family, and the relationship between his Uncle Frank and Aunt Dottie is a beautiful portrayal of a marriage. Samir, in The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams, helps Omar learn what true (sacrificial) love means and essentially adopts Omar as his son. Bamboo People is about child soldiers, forcefully removed from their home. But what a picture of biblical forgiveness is provided in the book, partly through the relationship of an enemy father and his son. Thus, these protagonists aren’t facing the world without the benefit of strong father- and mother-figures, even if those figures aren’t biologically related to them.

The Real Problem Is …

The real problem is not absent fathers but one of restoration of right relationships. Because of the fall (Genesis 3), all of our earthly relationships are flawed, and all are in dire need of redemption and reconciliation through the work of Christ. Right relationships include child-parent relationships, but also relationships to authority figures in general, relationships between men and women, relationships to peers, and more.

Scripture offers copious examples of “nuclear families” in which the father is substantively flawed: Abraham lies about Sarah, claiming she’s his sister. Later, he has a child with Sarah’s maid. David lusts after Bathsheba, commits adultery, and then murders her husband to cover up his sin. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, is a miserable leader who completely violates God’s covenant with Israel. And on it goes. Other families in Scripture might include a strong, biblical (“ideal”) father, but those stories include other trials (for instance, before Ruth meets Boaz, her first husband dies, her father-in-law dies, and she must flee to a foreign country simply to find food). Friends, this is why God is the ultimate Father: only He is holy, righteous, just, loving, merciful, and loving. And it is only through God the Father’s Son that we can ever hope for reconciliation.

Today’s Alternative

The alternative in today’s world is all too often a book in which the central conflict is between the child and his or her parents, or, even worse, a book in which the very fabric of creation (i.e. binary genders) is attacked. Instead of restoring right relationships, many of today’s books offer pictures of rebellion against biblical norms, including rebellion against any and all authority figures. This isn’t unique to books. Many TV shows offer up pictures of inept fathers (such as Everybody Loves Raymond) in which the fathers are simply the butt of the jokes.

Our world is fallen, and all our relationships have been distorted through sin. Instead of looking only for books that show ideal relationships that don’t exist in the real world without Christ, we should look for books showing protagonists growing in their understanding and application of wisdom, who choose whom to follow based on sound principles, who model looking to people older and wiser for counsel, and who demonstrate repentance/remorse over their wrong actions. And we know that no earthly family will ever picture God’s original ideal; for that, we need Jesus!