3rd Blog

I believe the second book cover best represents the story "The Fifth Child". In the book's entirety, Ben was always made out to be some sort of 'monster' because of his abnormalities. His own parents say he "had willed himself to be born, had invaded their ordinariness, which had no defense against him or anything like him." He was locked up in his room when he got to be too much of a handful for the family. Also, Doris Lessing vividly describes to the reader Ben's enormous strength, even from when he was a small child. The cover shows on top, a silhouette of a beast, crouching, almost as if ready to attack. He beast is in the shadows so on the cover it merely appears black giving it a sense of mystery but also danger and fright. Harriet was always perplexed by Ben's behavior, she was always wondering what he could be thinking behind those black eyes. Sure, she had her ideas but that was all she had, she was never able to find out. The children were frightened by Ben, even his father and elders. And, of course, wherever Ben was, danger was not far behind. On the bottom of the separation line, the beast is shown embracing the light that is cast through the window. This represents Ben's inner struggle, trying to cope with a world and it's people who just can't understand him. At times he seems almost normal, like he's catching the rays of the sun, but just as soon as that moment appears, it disappears; leaving Ben confused and misunderstood again.