Conclusion

Overall I have looked at seven quite different books however they do have similarities when it comes to the representation and meaning of food. The Railway Children, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Oliver Twist all use food as a way to represent the struggle and poverty the characters live in. Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter focus on the more magical effects of food, foods no one has heard of before and foods that make you grow and shrink. The representation of food in Heidi shows that just because food may appear simple it does not mean it’s any less delicious than what others would consider treats. This then brings me onto my next point, what foods are considered treats? Through my research I have found that anything can be a treat it is up to the character who defines whether or not it is a treat to them. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe use food as a way to foreshadow bad events, emphasising that food is not always as it seems. It may be delicious and wonderful to eat what you like  but it is not always the right thing to do. Edmond gets his brother and sister’s trapped because he’s too selfish to think about anything but Turkish Delight. As I have looked at books over a vast period of time you would think descriptions of food would differ over time. The only thing I really found that differed was the purpose of food in each book and what is signified. I’m not certain that had anything to do with the time period but rather the purpose differed due to the different story lines and ideas in each book. 

Works Cited

Lewis, C. S., and Pauline Baynes. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.

Rowling, J. K., and Mary GrandPré. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: A.A. Levine, 1998. Print.

Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. N.p.: Wordsworth Edns., 1993. Print.

Dahl, Roald, and Joseph Schindelman. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. New York: Knopf, 1964. Print.

Spyri, Johanna, and Ruth Sanderson. Heidi. New York: Ariel /Alfred A. Knopf, 1984. Print.

Nesbit, E., and C. E. Brock. The Railway Children. New York: Knopf, 1993. Print.

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1941. Print.

Harry Potter is a brilliant children's book. It was the series that kept me entertained for hours and the films were just as good. I decided to focus on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone published in 1997 as I enjoyed both watching and reading the parts with Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs and all sorts! These out of the ordinary sweets used to fill me with excitement and I often wished I could buy the earwax flavour jelly bean that Dumbledore eats at the end of the book. (Don't ask me why.)

The lists of all the treats available shows Harry's disbelief of all the things there are available and how none of them he has heard of before. Harry's excitement makes him appear childlike as any child who saw all those weird and wonderful foods would probably want to do the same and buy everything!

Just before Christmas I visited Harry Potter World and it was great. I got to see all the sets and the great hall and the tables were covered with roast chicken, potatoes, peas, everything you would expect to eat with a roast dinner!

Look at all that food! (Of course it the food was real but it looked just as good.)












At the end of the tour I went to the gift shop and it was crazy! There were children everywhere picking up Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Beans, everything! 'Mum, can I have these please? Oh and maybe this too?' That was all I could hear, just like Harry the children wanted to try everything too. I'll be honest so did I, but when I looked at the prices, there was no way I was going to spend that! £8.99 for ONE CHOCOLATE FROG!?

So I decided to make my own simply by melting some chocolate, spooning the chocolate into molds and then putting in the fridge to set. Here's how they turned out.

So they didn't turn out too badly, however the parrot lost his tail, oops. They may not be as good as the official Harry Potter Chocolate Frogs but they are definitely cheaper and more worth your money!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) is one of my favorite childhood book's. Packed full off treats, sweets and an exciting adventure!  Poor Charlie Buckett lives in a house that is falling down and all the family can afford to eat is watery, cabbage soup. Not my idea of a treat! And it clearly isn't Charlie's either!

Charlie longs for chocolate, he's tired of cabbage. This is evidently clear by the use of ellipses and capitals of 'CHOCOLATE'. Charlie doesn't think of much else and chocolate is one of his favourite things. However his family can only afford to buy him one chocolate bar a year, on his birthday.

This is a  recipe for cabbage soup:

The soup looks pretty gross in my opinion! Dull and soggy.

However as the story moves on and Charlie wins the golden ticket and goes to the factory there is a lot more description of magical foods and delights in Willy Wonka's factory.

Charlie listing all the wonderful things he has seen displays his excitement and disbelief. He is experiencing things he never thought he could, even in his wildest dreams! There is huge contrast to his life before and his life now. 

I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in theatre with my boyfriend and it was BRILLIANT! The whole theatre was full of children, obviously they love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as much as I do. The theatre production captured the essence of the book perfectly and a lot of the scenes were even better than I imagined, like Augustus and the chocolate fountain and Violet turning into the blueberry, I wish you were allowed to take pictures!

Stepping into the fantastical land of Narnia (1950) there are various parts in the book where the element of food is displayed. Set in War time, treats such as jam, sweets and syrup would have started to be rationed, so for most children getting these things would have been considered a treat. The characters in the book are four siblings, the eldest peter, then Susan, Edmond and Lucy they are evacuated from the city to the countryside as War has broken out.

One day when all the siblings are playing hide and seek, Lucy, the youngest hides in a wardrobe and finds herself in a magical world called Narnia. She meets a man who's half human and half fawn, Mr Tumnus. She goes back to his house for tea. This is where the first mention of food appears.

Toast and cake sounds like a nice tea, I'm not so sure about sardines though. I personally don't really have an opinion on them, but I'm certain to a child they would not appear too appetizing! Mr Tumnus lists all the foods and things in an attempt to persuade Lucy to go to his house. It is a cruel thing to do, especially as young children can be easily persuaded to do something or go somewhere if appealing food is involved.

Look they have the eyes on them and everything! YUCK.

Later on in the book, food appears again and is used in the same way, to persuade/bribe a child to do something. Edmond enters Narnia despite all the siblings believing Lucy made it up and he falls into the trap of the White Witch. She seems pleasant enough to the ignorant, selfish Edmond and once she conjures up some Turkish Delight with her magic, Edmond practically falls into her lap.

The Queen uses the Turkish Delight as a way to trick Edmond into doing what she wants. Here food is represented as foreshadowing bad events to come. The description of the Turkish Delight highlights the beauty and deliciousness of the food. 'Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre' The way it is describe is to make the reader believe how magical and unlike anything else  the Turkish Delight is, emphasising the hold the Queen has on Edmond just through giving him his favourite food.

Recipe for Turkish Delight:

 

The Railway Children

The Railway Children was a book and film that I loved as a child. It was an authentic classic and like Heidi really touched me emotionally. (Yes, I'm very soppy when it comes to certain films.) It is written by the very famous author E.Nesbit and published in 1906. The story is about three children's father, (Roberta, Peter and Phyllis) who is wrongly accused and sent to jail. Their mother just tells them, their father has been sent away on business. During their father's absence the children's mother tries to make ends meet but their fortune begins to run out and they move to a smaller house near a railway. Their mother falls ill and there is no money to pay the doctor so the children befriend a man who gets on the same train everyday. In the end this man helps to prove the children's father's innocence and the father returns home. This is the scene that gets me every single time!

There are many features of food in The Railway Children both are presented in both positive and negative lights. When the children's father is taken away and money begins to run out the children have to adjust to more basic food and have to ration the food they usually have plenty of. 

Scrag-end is the cut found at the neck of the animal and is a cheaper value of meat. It is used in foods such as casseroles and stews. Broth is also a meal that poor people would often eat and would mainly consist of water, bones and vegetables. Basically any scraps of food that were left over.  The tone of the children's mother is brisk and premptory as she admits she cannot afford the food.

Broth

I found this recipe for broth and reading though it, it reminded me of the food Oliver had to eat in Oliver Twist. Both broth and gruel consist of low cost foods. Oliver Twist eats gruel because it's the only food the orphanage can mass produced without it costing a fortune. Gruel signifies the poverty in Oliver Twist and likewise the broth in The Railway children show the huge change and contrast from their known wealthy  life to now a struggling family. 

I have to say I would definitely prefer broth over gruel any day!

The children's relationship with food at the beginning of the novel is good. They have tasty food to eat and plenty of it. As the novel unravels there is more of an emphasis on the children having to ration their intake and eat plainer foods. However on Bobbie's (Roberta's) birthday Peter makes a real effort to surprise her and a more positive relationship between characters and food is displayed.