The Railway Children - Synopsis 361u34

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 ing 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 ing 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.

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 named Phyllis.She is fondly known as Bobbie in this novel. She is the eldest of the three. One of her characters is, she is a very persistent person.She doesn't easily throw in the towel when the odds seem to be against her. There are many incidences in the novel where we can see her persistence. For example,in chapter 3 (page 17 - paragraph 5 - lines 1-3),we can see how determined she was 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 her mother's recovery. In chapter 6 (page 38 - read the whole page), Perks was not happy with people giving him presents.He was worried that people would laugh and make fun of him.Bobbie persistently reasoned with Perks about the good intentions of the village people giving him the presents untill he relented and accepted the gifts.Finally, Perks celebrated 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 secure her 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 her father's name.In the end her father was released from prison. *Brave - Chapter 5, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 *Kindhearted Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter *Responsible Chapter 3, Chapter 4,

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Chapter Chapter

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

PETER

Peter is Roberta's brother. He is the second child in the family. Peter is a very brave and smart young chap. He wants to be an engineer when he grows up. He has a knack for railway engines. He was overjoyed when his father gave him a steam engine for his birthday.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 in colour to wave and stop the train from meeting a certain disaster.He cut his sisters' red petticoats into six pieces and put them on to sticks.Peter together with his sisters waved at the coming train until it stopped. In Chapter 6 (pg 36 - p1 - lines 1-3), Peter was honestin giving the idea of asking the village people to give gifts for Perk's birthday.He told his mother about their true intention 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 daring enough to steal coal from the railway station at night but he did it ignorantly. 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 how brave Peter was in searching for the boy in the red shirt in the dark tunnel.He was shaking in fear but still he continued the search for the boy with his sisters. PHYLLIS

Phyllis is the youngest child in the family. She is the cutest of the three.She is quite a bubbly character. She is very naive and insecure.She is also very sensitive but easily forgiving.In Chapter 5 (p29,30 & 31), we can see the braveside of Phyllis. She together with her elder sister and brother managed to stop the train from meeting with a terrible accident. In Chapter 1 (p7 - p1 - last line), Phyllis felt very insecure when they moved in to their new house at the countyside. While in Chapter 6 (pg 38 - p1&2),Phyllis became very sensitive when Perks refused to accept the gifts the children had brought to him. She was so hurt by Perks's words that she started to cry.In Chapter 4,5,6 and 8 we can see how loving, caring and helpful Phyllis 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 children or reading stories to them.Usually she read the stories she wrote to them.She is a very protective woman. She protected her children from worrying or feeling sad about their father. She did this by not telling them what actually had happened to their father. She also told them that they need to play being poor for a while in order not to cause more anxiety on them. In chapter 2 (p12 - pg 1 - lines 2-3), we can see how resourceful she is. Mother wrote stories 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 that they are poor and asking strangers to help them. She is also a very caring and loving Mother.In Chapter 1 (p1 - p2 - lines 1-3), Mother was always ready to play with her chlidren. She also read stories to them. Whereas inChapter 9 ( p53 - p1 - lines 2-4), she taught her children their lessons as they have stopped going to school for some time now.In Chapter 8 (p50 - p1 - lines 8-9) , she took in the injured boy into her house and nursed him to health.

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 children love their father very much for he is always happy and ready to play games with them.In Chapter 1 (pg 3 - p1 - lines 13), 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 grateful for 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

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 itted 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-SETTINGS There are 3 types of settings in this novel :Place, Social, Cultural P

Place House in London

The cottage in the country side The railway station The railway tunnel The village T Social Edwardian Type of Clothes Coal used for steam engine trains Cultural Having tea High hats and long coats