The Railway Children - Synopsis

7/29/2019 The Railway Children - Synopsis

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THE RAILWAY CHILDREN -SYNOPSIS

Roberta(Bobbie), Peter and Phyllis lived in a comfortable home in London. Their father was a civil servant while their

mother was a housewife.Their parents were wonderful and kind people. They also had a maid to do the house work.

One day, two gentlemen came to the house to see their father. Soon after, he followed them out.He was taken to

prison. He was accused of being a Russian spy. The children did not know why their father left with the two men but

their mother knew. She kept it to herself and did not tell the children.

Soon, they had to move to a modest cottage in the

Yorkshire countryside. The cottage was situated near a railway station. The children's life revolved around the passing

trains, workers at the station and the towns people.

Their mother wrote some stories to earn some money to buy food and for other necessities. It was hard at first to be

poor but they soon learned to live with the little they had.

They learned not to steal coal from the railway station even if they have so little coal to keep warm. Their life was full

of adventures. For instance, they managed to stop a train when a landslide covered the tracks. They found the injured

boy (hound) in the train tunnel and managed to get help for him.

They liked to wave at passing trains. In time they made many new friends and forged a special friendship with one old

gentleman in particular. The old gentleman gets to know them and helps them in various ways.
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He becomes instrumental in the release of their father from prison.Finally, one day their father returns home and

everybody is happy that now they are together again.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN-CHARACTER

ROBERTA (BOBBIE)

Roberta is 12 years old. She has a brother named Peter and a younger sister namedPhyllis.She is fondly known as Bobbie in this novel. She is the eldest of the three. One ofher characters is, she is a verypersistent person.She doesn't easilythrow in thetowel when the odds seem to be against her.There are many incidences in the novel where we can see herpersistence. Forexample,in chapter 3 (page 17 - paragraph 5 - lines 1-3),we can see how determined shewas in getting the things necessary for her mother's recovery when her mother

was ill. Her persistence paid off when the old gentleman gave the things needed for hermother's recovery.In chapter 6 (page 38 - read the whole page), Perks was not happy with people givinghim presents.He was worried that people would laugh and make fun ofhim.Bobbie persistently reasoned with Perks about the good intentions of the villagepeople giving him the presents untill he relented and accepted the gifts.Finally, Perkscelebrated his birthday with a happy note.In chapter 7 (pg 42 - the whole page), she did not give up in finding a way to help secureher father's release from prison. She was persistent even when her mother had given up.She secretly wrote a letter to her friend the old gentleman asking for his help to clear herfather's name.In the end her father was released from prison.

*Brave - Chapter 5, Chapter 7, Chapter 8*Kindhearted - Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 8*Responsible - Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

*Moral - we must not easily give up when things seem impossible. We must keeptrying by finding means and ways to make the impossible possible like Roberta.
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PETER

Peter is Roberta's brother. He is the second child in the family. Peter is a very brave andsmart young chap. He wants to be an engineer when he grows up. He has a knack forrailway engines. He was overjoyed when his father gave him a steam engine for hisbirthday.One distinct character of Peter is sharp-witted(intelligent).In Chapter 5 (p29 - p4 - lines 1-3), It was he who gave the idea of using something red incolour to wave and stop the train from meeting a certain disaster.He cut his sisters' redpetticoats into six pieces and put them on to sticks.Peter together with his sisters wavedat the coming train until it stopped.In Chapter 6 (pg 36 - p1 - lines 1-3), Peter was honestin giving the idea of asking thevillage people to give gifts for Perk's birthday.He told his mother about their trueintention of giving Perks the presents.Many people gave gifts for Perks birthday party.In Chapter 2 (pg 12 - p 3 - lines 1-3), we can see the daring side of Peter. He was daringenough to steal coal from the railway station at night but he did itignorantly.Peterinnocently thought it was alright to take some coal from the station. In Chapter 8

(p46 - p1 - lines 1-4 / pg 47 - p2 - lines 1-4), we can see howbravePeter was in searchingfor the boy in the red shirt in the dark tunnel.He was shaking in fear but still hecontinued the search for the boy with his sisters.

PHYLLIS
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Phyllis is the youngest child in the family. She is the cutest of the three.She is quite abubbly character. She is very naive and insecure.She is also very sensitive but easilyforgiving.In Chapter 5 (p29,30 & 31), we can see thebraveside of Phyllis. She togetherwith her elder sister and brother managed to stop the train from meeting with a terribleaccident.

In Chapter 1 (p7 - p1 - last line), Phyllis felt very insecure when they moved in to theirnew house at the countyside.While in Chapter 6 (pg 38 - p1&2),Phyllis becamevery sensitive when Perks refused toaccept the gifts the children had brought to him. She was so hurt by Perks's wordsthat she started to cry.In Chapter 4,5,6 and 8 we can see how loving, caring and helpfulPhyllis is.

MOTHER

Mother is a homely type.We can read this in Chapter 1 (page 1 -paragraph 2 - lines 1-3). She spends most of her time at home, playing with the childrenor reading stories to them.Usually she read the stories she wrote to them.She is a veryprotective woman. She protected her children from worrying or feeling sad about theirfather. She did this by not telling them what actually had happened to their father. Shealso told them that they need to play being poor for a while in order not to cause moreanxiety on them.In chapter 2 (p12 - pg 1 - lines 2-3), we can see how resourceful she is. Mother wrotestories and sold them to put some food on the table.In chapter 4 (p21 - pg 3 - lines 1-3), we can see that Mother is a very proud person.Although they were poor, she strongly discourages her children from telling people thatthey are poor and asking strangers to help them.

She is also a very caring and loving Mother.InChapter 1 (p1 - p2 - lines 1-3), Mother wasalways ready to play with her chlidren. She also read stories to them. WhereasinChapter 9( p53 - p1 - lines 2-4), she taught her children their lessons as they havestopped going to school for some time now.In Chapter 8 (p50 - p1 - lines 8-9) , she tookin the injured boy into her house and nursed him to health.
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FATHER

The children's father worked in a government ofiice. He was a civil servant. He was an honest and hardworking man.

He was wrongly accused of being a Russian spy and was sentenced to 5 years in prison.In Chapter 1 (pg 1 - p 3 - lines

2-4),we can see how tolerant and wonderful he is. He never gets angry at the children nor at his wife. The childrenlove their father very much for he is always happy and ready to play games with them.In Chapter 1 (pg 3 - p1 - lines 1-

3), when Peter showed him his broken steam engine, father looked at itcarefully and smilingly told Peter that there is

hope(optimistic) that his steam engine could be repaired.He is also a grateful man. In Chapter 9 (pg 57 - "Yes',said

Father.'It's him I must thank.'). Father was gratefulfor his release and wanted to thank the old gentleman for helping

him to clear his name and secure his release from prison.

Moral Value 1 - Brave

Example: In chapter 5, the children managed to save the train and stop a very

bad accident from happening.One day, Roberta, Peter and Phyllis saw a landslide which blocked the railway line.The

girls used their red petticoats to make flags.The train was moving very fast.Bobbie braved herself and ran on to the

railway line and waved her flags.The train finally stopped just twenty metres from Bobbie. The children's bravery

saved the people on the rain from meeting with an awful accident and from getting killed.

Moral Value 2 - Kindhearted
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Example : In chapter 3, the children's mother was ill and had to stay in bed. Dr Forrest came to

check on their mother and told Bobbie her mother needed milk and fruit and some other special things to eat in order

to get well. They couldn't afford to buy them, so the children decided to ask help from the old gentleman. The old

gentleman was a kind enough to provide them with all the things they had asked and some they had not.

Moral Value 3 - Stealing Is Wrong

Example : In chapter 2, Peter and his two sisters stole some coal from the station yard. They took

the coal back to their house.One day, the station master caught Peter red handed stealing coal in the station

yard.Peter and his two sisters admitted to helping Peter with his crime. The station master warned them not to repeat

it again and let them go. The children realised that stealing was wrong. They repented and never took any coal from

the station yard again.

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN-SETTINGSThere are 3 types of settings in this novel :-

Place, Social, CulturalP

Place

House in London
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The cottage in the country sideThe railway stationThe railway tunnel

The villageT

Social

Edwardian Type of ClothesCoal used for steam engine trains

Cultural

Having teaHigh hats and long coats

Documents

The Railway Children - Synopsis