From: Barbara Scotto <barbara_scotto>
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 00:37:40 -0400

Ruth,
        Of course, you are right about there being no buffer that could protect a child from the horrors of war. As I think about it, what I mean is that even during a war many children are fortunate enough to have a parent who remains a parent. I felt that in Ungerer's case, his mother both infantilized him and at the same time treated him as a peer. This is always a difficult psychological situation for a child, but it seems to me that it would be devastating for a child in wartime. In this situation, a child would not know what is expected of him. Is he a helpless baby, or is he a shrewd survivor? Many parents would not put their children in this position. If it were at all possible, they would help the child process what was happening and be a stabilizing influence in a world gone crazy.
        One might argue that Ungerer was far better off than many children, and certainly that is true. On the other hand, his work shows the profound effect that the war had on him. The images of chaos and horror are pretty close to the surface.

Barbara Scotto Driscoll School Brookline, MA barbara_scotto at brookline.mec.edu
Received on Fri 13 Aug 1999 11:37:40 PM CDT