THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Themes

Thereareroughlytenthemesinthisnovel.Theyareasstated
below:

1.TheImportanceOfAFamilyThefamilybondbetweenthe
charactersinthisnovelisverystrong.Forexample,inchapter1,
motherwas always at home spending time with the children.
Sheplayedwiththemandreadstoriestothem.Motheralsoread
storieswhichshewrotetothemaftertea.Moreover,thechildren
hadawonderfulfatherwhowasneverangry,andwasalways
readytoplayagamewiththem.Thechildrenlovedtheirfather
andneverforgothimthoughtheynevertalkedmuchabouthim.
Bobbie, Peter and Phylliswere always together be it at the
railwayline,therailwaystationandevenwhentheycollected
giftsforPerks.
2.Hope and OptimismThe children's father was always
optimistic that things wouldbe fine.For example, when Peter
showedhimhisbrokentoysteamengine,fatherlookedatitand
optimisticallyassuredPeterthathewouldmendit.Bobbiehad
highhopesthattheoldgentlemanwouldbeabletohelpherto
seek the truth about her father's innocence.The old
gentlemanhelped Bobbiein her questbecause he had hopes
thatherfatherwasinnocent.

3.BraveryBobbie, Peter and Phyllis

arebravechildren.Theyriskedtheirlivestostopatrainfrom
accident.PeterandPhylliswavedtheirflagsbystandingalong
the railway line while Bobbie ran on to the line waving her
flags.Thechildrenasloshowedbraverywhentheyenteredthe
darktunneltolookfortheboyintheredshirt.Motherstayed
calmandbraveforthechlidren'ssakewhileherhusbandwas
awayinprison.

4.The Joys Of Childhood

5.Kindness Brings Reward
6.The Loss Of Innocence
7.Justice Shall Prevail
8.Coping With Hardship
9.Resourceful And Innovative
10.Naivety
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Monday, 9 April 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Man At The

Station

It'sbeenawhilesincethechildrenwentto
therailway.Theymissedwavingatthetrain,particularlythe
91.5train.Onemorning,thechildrenwentdownthehilltowave
atthepassing9.15train.Theywavedtheirhandkerchiefsbut
this time somethingunexpected happened. Not only the old
gentlemanwavedbackbutalltheotherpassengersalsowaved
backatthechildren.Thechildrendidn'tknowwhattoexpect
butBobbiehadaninklingthatsomethingwasabouttohappen.
Laterathome,Bobbiewasrestlessandcouldn'tconcentrateon
her lessons. She excused herself and went down to the
station.She wanted to meet and talk to Perks.At the
station,people who had never waved or smiled at her before,
now waved and smiled asshe passed by.Everbody
seemedsokindandfriendly.WhenBobbiemetPerks,hetold
her how pleased he was about the news he had read in the
newspaper.Asshewastryingtofigureoutwhatwasgoingon,
the11.54trainarrived.Onlythreepeoplegotdownfromthe
train,thelastwasherfather.Bobbiewasoverjoyedwhenshe
sawherfather.Sheranandhuggedhimtightly.Boobieandher
fatherwalkedbackhometomeettherestofthefamily.Itwas
trullyahappyendingforall.
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THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Boy In The
Red Shirt
Onedaythechildrenwentdowntotherailwaylinetowatchthe
paperchase.TheboysfromMaidbridgewerehavingthepaper
chase.Paperchaseinvolvesthe"Hare"andthe"Hounds".One
boy(Hare)willdroppiecesofpaperbehindhimfortheother
boys(Hounds)tofollow.Thechildrenwatchedfromthetopof
thehill,theboysranintotheblackmouthofthetunnel.Thelast
boywaswearingaredshirt.

Thechildreneagerlywaitedfortheboystocomeoutattheother
endofthetunnel.Allofthemcameoutslowly,lookingrather
tired. But,the boyin the red shirt was nowhere to be seen.
Theywaitedforalongtimefortheboybuthestilldidn'tcome
outfromthetunnel.So,theydecidedtogoandlookforhim
insidethetunnel.Thetunnelwasdarkinside.Peterlitacandle
and they continued to search for the boy deeper inside the
tunnel.
Finally,theysaw himlyingontheground,besidetherailway
line.Hewasconciousbuthislegwasbroken.Theboytriedto
stand buthis leg hurt teribbly.They took him to Bobbie's
house.Thechildrenandtheirmothernursedandtookcareof
Jim.TheirmotherwrotealettertoJim'sgrandfathertoinform
him on what had happened to Jim.
Thenextday,Jim'sgrandfathercametovisithim.Thechildren
weresurprisedandhappywhentheysawJim'sgrandfather,it
wastheirgoodfriendtheoldgentleman.
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Monday, 2 April 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Terrible

Secret
Thechildrenneverreallyforgottheirfather.Theyonlystopped
askingabouthimbecauseitmadetheirmotherunhappy.But,
Bobbiethoughtabouthimquiteoften.Hermindwasfilledwith
questionswhichwasscreamingforananswer.
 The answer finally came one day in a very
unexpectedway.Bobbiewentdowntothestationtopickupthe
magazineswhichPerksgavetothem.Perkswrappedsomeold
newspaperroundthemagazinestokeepthemtogether.Bobbie
happilyreceivedthemagazinesandwentbackhome.

On the wayhome she stopped to rest for a while as the

magazines were quite heavy to carry.She looked at the
newspaper and read some words on the page.The
wordsimpactedherterribly.
She hurried back home. She went straight to her room and
locked her room. She looked at the newspaper again.The
words'FIVE YEARS IN PRISON FOR SPY!'andherfather's
namecaughtherattention.Shewasinadazeasthewholething
seemedlikeateribbledream.Bobbieshowedhermotherthe
newspaper.Shewasspeechlessforawhilebutlaterexplainedto
Bobbiehowherfatherwasframedasbeingaspybyamanwho
workswithhim.HermotheralsotoldBobbiehowshehadtried
toproveherfather'sinnocencebuttonoavail.

HermotheradvisedBobbietobestrongandpatientandnotto
thinkaboutit.But,Bobbiewasdeterminedtoproveherfather's
innocence. Secretly she wrote a letter to her friend the old
gentlemanaskinghimtohelpherproveherfather'sinnocence.
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Monday, 26 March 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Birthday For

Perks

Bobbie,PeterandPhylliswantedtogive
Perksanicebirthdaysurprise.First,theywantedtomakehim
somecakes.Later,Petercameupwithaspecialideatocelebrate
Perks'sbirthday.Theywentaroundthevillagetoaskpeopleif
theywantedtogivePerk'spresentsforhisbirthday.Some
peoplewerehappytogivewhilesomewerenot.
Peoplegavethingslikeapipe,atinoftea,awalkingstickand
some gave some small presents.The old gentleman gave a
pound.EvengrudgyoldMrsRansomegavesomeredapplesand
apram.Thechildrenwerehappyandputallthepresentsinthe
pramandpushedittoPerks'shouse.

MrsPerkswasreallysurprisedwithallthepresentspeoplehad
givenPerks.Thechildrenhidinaroomandwantedtosurprise
Perks.But to their surprise Perks was not happybut felt
offended.
Perkswasaproudman.Hedidn'twantpeopletolaughathim.
Hedidnotwantpeopleinthevillagetothinkthathecan'ttake
care of his family andthey hadto give him things.Bobbie
explainedtoPerkstheirreasonforcelebratinghisbirthday.She
toldhimallthegoodthingspeoplethoughtabouthim.Atthe
end, Perks finally realised his mistake and celebrated his
birthdaywithhiswife,hischildren,Bobbie,PeterandPhyllis.
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Monday, 19 March 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Saving The

Train
Oneday,Bobbie,PeterandPhyllissawalandslidehappenright
infrontoftheireyes.Thelandslideblockedtherailwayline
below.Itwasalreadypast11o'clockandthe11.29trainhadn't
passedbyyet.Theywantedtoalertthestationbuttherewasn't
enoughtime.So,theyquicklycameupwithaplantoalertthe
traindriver.
The girls took off their red petticoats and cut them into six
pieces.Theyputthemontosticks.Theyhadsixredflags.They
pushedtwooftheflagsintoheapsofstonesbetweenthelines.
BobbieandPhylliseachtookone.Petertooktheothertwo.They
stoodbesidetherailwaylinereadytowave.Afteralongtime
theyheardthetraincoming.
The children waved thier flags frantically. The train came
very,very fast.Suddenly, Bobbie ran on to the line. Peter
shoutedathertogetbackbutshedidnotmovefromtheline.
Shewavedandwavedherflags,shouting'Stop,stop!'asthebig
blackenginecametowardsher.Finally,thetrainstoppedtwenty
metresfromBobbie.PeterandPhyllisquicklyranandtoldthe
train driver about the landslide.Bobbie froze on the tracks
becauseoffrightandjustsatdownontheground.
Atlastthechildrenmanagedtosavethetrainfrommeetingwith
anaccident.Theeventfuldaywasknownasthe'red-petticoat
day'.
Afewweekslater,theywerepresentedwithabeautifulgold
watcheachbytheNorthernandSouthernRailwayCompanyat
thestation.Manypeoplewerethereincludingthepeoplewho
hadbeenonthetrainonthe'redpetticoatday'.Thewatches
wereasagestureofthanksfortheirbraveandsensibledeedon
the'redpetticoatday'.
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Sunday, 4 March 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Bobbie's Ride

ItwasBobbie'sbirthday,shewasnow12yearsold.Hermother,
Phyllis,and Peter prepared a surprise birthday party for
her.Bobbie received some very nice presents from them and
fromMrsViney.Petergaveherhalfofhistoysteamengine.
Bobbietookthebrokenhalfofthesteamengine.Shewantedto
getitmended.
The next day, Bobbie went down to the railway alone. She
wanted toask the driver of the train to help her fixPeter's
brokentoytrain.Bobbiehadneverbeenclosetoatrain'sengine
before.
Bobbieclimbedontothestepoftheengine.Thetrainstartedto
moveandshefellontoaheapofcoal.Shecriedforhelpbut
thedriverandthefiremandidnotseenorhearher.Sheputout
herhandandtouchedthedriver'sarm.Hewasshockedtosee
her. He shouted at herdemanding to know what was she
doingthere.
Bobbie started to cry and themen were worried.They took
severalminutestocalmherdown.Later,theyaskedhergently
whatwasshedoingthere.Bobbietookoutthethetoyengine
andaskediftheycouldhelpherfixit.Themenagreedtohelp
her.Bobbiewasveryhappyandthankedthem.
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Sunday, 26 February 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Old

Gentleman

Thechildrenlovedtherailway.Theyknewallthetrainsthat
passedby;particularlythe9.15train.Thechlidrenlikedtowave
atoneparticularoldgentlemanwhotravelledonthe9.15train
everyday.
Oneday,theirmotherwasnotfeelingwell.DrForrestconfirmed
thattheirmotherwassickandhadtostayinbed.HetoldBobbie
thathewillgivehermothersomemedicineandshealsoneeds
fruitandmilk,andsomeotherspecialthingstohelpherrecover.
Hewrotethethingsdownonapieceofpaperandgaveitto
Bobbie.
Later,Bobbie showed her mother the piece of paper.She told
Bobbie that they are poor and simply can't afford to buy all
thosethings.Bobbiewasdeterminedtogetthosethingsforher
mother.She,PeterandPhyllissatandtalkedtogetheronhowto
getthosethings.Theydecidedtomakeabigbannerusinga
whitesheet.Theypaintedthewords"LOOK OUT AT THE
STATION"onit.

Thenextmorning,Peterfixeditontothefenceandwaitedfor
the9.15train.Theoldgentlemansawthesign.Whenthetrain
stoppedatthestation,Phyllismanagedtopushaletterintohis
hand.The old gentleman read their letter and was moved by
theirpleatohelptheirmother.
Thesameevening,theoldgentlemansentallthethingstheyhad
askedforandsomethingextrainalargebox.Perksthefriendly
pottersenttheboxtothem.Thechildrenwereveryhappybut
theyweren'tverysurehowtheirmotherwouldreacttotheir
plan.
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Monday, 20 February 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - Peter And The

Coal
Theirnewhousestoodinafieldnearthetopofahill.Therewas
arailwaylineandatunnelatthebottomofthehill.Theyhad
breakfast together and helped their mother to unpack and
arrange everything in the rooms.Late in the
afternoon,Bobbie,Peter and Phyllis decided to go and see the
railway.
Therailwaywassituatedatthebottomofthehill.Therewasa
woodenfencethere.Thechildrenclimbedontopofittowatch
thetrain.Theywereexcitedwhentheysawatraingoingby
them.They went down to the station and saw the potter half
asleep.Thereweremanyrailwaylinesatthestation.Therewasa
largeheapofcoalatthestationyardandawhitelineonthe
wall. Peter asked the potter what the white line meant. The
pottertoldhimthatitindicatedhowmuchcoaltherewasinthe
heapandifanyonestealssomethepotterwouldknowaboutit.

Thechildrenstoppedgoingtoschool.Theirmotherwrotestories
toprovidefoodonthetable.Duringrainydays,thehousewas
very cold. They couldn't have firesbecause coal was very
expensive.Peterdecidedtotakesomecoalfromthestationyard.
BobbieandPhyllisjoinedintohelpPetertocarrythecoalupto
thehouse.Thechildrentoldnobody.

One night, the station master caught Peter stealing

coal at the station. Bobbie and Phyllis also admittedhelping
Petertotakethecoal.Peterreasonedthathewasonlytaking
themandnotstealing.
ThestationmasterpitiedBobbie,PeterandPhyllisandletthem
go with a reminder not to repeat their act again. The
childrenrealizedthatwhattheydidwaswronganddidnotsteal
again.
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Wednesday, 8 February 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN - The Beginning

Of Things

Roberta,PeterandPhyllislivedwiththeirfatherand
motherinLondon.Theirparentswereverylovingandcaring
towardsthem.Theirfatherwasaveryjovialmanandnevergot
angry.Thechildrenhadeverythingtheyneeded.Theirmother
wasahousewifewhiletheirfatherwasagovernmentservant.
One night, two unexpected gentlemen came to the
house.The two men and their father went into a
room to talk. They talked for a long time and their
father's voice became louder and louder. He
sounded angry.

 Soon after, their father left the

house with the two men.The children were worried
if there was any bad news. Their mother informed
them that their father had to go away on some
urgent business. Everything was horried after their
father left them. After a few weeks they moved to
the country side. They lived in a little house near a
railway line.

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Tuesday, 17 January 2012

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN-MORAL VALUE

Therearesomebeautifulmoralvalues/lessonswecanseeand
learnfromthisnovel.Themoralvalues/lessonsareBRAVE,
KINDHEARTED, STEALING IS WRONG, PERSEVERANCE
(NEVER GIVING UP), SENSIBLE (QUICK THINKING),
SENSITIVE (NOT SELFISH), HONESTY and FRIENDLY. In
thispost,Iwillsharethreeofthem.

MoralValue1Brave
 Example :In chapter 5, the children
managedtosavethetrainandstopaverybadaccidentfrom
happening.Oneday,Roberta,PeterandPhyllissawalandslide
whichblockedtherailwayline.Thegirlsusedtheirredpetticoats
to make flags.The train was moving very fast.Bobbie braved
herselfandranontotherailwaylineandwavedherflags.The
train finally stopped just twenty metres from Bobbie.The
children'sbraverysavedthepeopleonthetrainfrommeeting
withanawfulaccidentandfromgettingkilled.
MoralValue2Kindhearted

Example:Inchapter3,thechildren'smotherwas
illandhadtostayinbed.DrForrestcametocheckontheir
motherandtoldBobbiehermotherneededmilkandfruitand
some other special things to eat in order to get well. They
couldn'taffordtobuythem,sothechildrendecidedtoaskhelp
fromtheoldgentleman.Theoldgentlemanwasakindenough
toprovidethemwithallthethingstheyhadaskedandsomethey
hadnot.
MoralValue3StealingIsWrong

Example :In chapter 2, Peter and his two sisters

stolesomecoalfromthestationyard.Theytookthecoalbackto
theirhouse.Oneday,thestationmastercaughtPeterredhanded
stealing coalin thestation yard.Peter and his two sisters
admitted to helping Peter with his crime. The station master
warnedthemnottorepeatitagainandletthemgo.Thechildren
realisedthatstealingwaswrong.Theyrepentedandnevertook
anycoalfromthestationyardagain.

MoralValue4BeingGoodToOthers

Example :In chapter 6, the children wanted

tosurprise Perks withabirthday.Perkshadstopped celebrating
hisbirthdaysduetopovertyandfamilycommitments.Perkswas
good toRoberta,Peter and Phyllis.As a way to repay his
goodness,theyjoinedhandstogivehimanicebirthday.So,they
wentaroundthevillageaskingpeopletohelpthemgivePerksa
memorablebirthday.Manydonatednicethingsforhisbirthday.
Although at first Perks was not happy but the kindness and
goodnessofhisneighboursandthechildrentouchedhisheart.In
theend,he relented and celebrated his birthday happily
withthem.