The innocence of children is their wisdom, the simplicity of children is their egolessness.

This is portrayed in Olive Senior’s The Two Grandmothers and Carolyn Cole’s Emma. In
Emma, the story refers to a little girl who did not understand adult conversations and thought the
adults were playing a game. The short story of The Two Grandmothers, tells the story of a child
who spends time with her two grandmothers and unfortunately loved the urban grandmother
more. In essence, childhood innocence is shown in both stories, which both is narrated from a
child’s perspective. In both stories the child is excited of one character or an adult and suspense
is a technique which was used in each text.

In Emma, childhood innocence was brought across where Dory thought that Emma came back
home after the accident because she heard the bed squeaking. Unfortunately, she did not
understand that it was Mrs. Robinson due to the fact that she is used to her parents squeaking the
bed. This shows that Dory did not realize her mother died after the accident and that she does not
understand the life of an adult. She thought her mother and her father were playing a game and
that she wanted to play the game when she grows up, which demonstrates that she does not
understand adult conversations. Likewise, in The Two Grandmothers, childhood innocence was
brought across where the child did not understand, why people are so worried of Mister Mack’s
daughter, Eulalie that she fell. The child does not know that when they say she fell, it means she
is pregnant. This also shows that the child does not understand adult conversations. Therefore,
both narrators misunderstood adult conversations.

Both children showed excitement for an adult in both texts. Dory showed excitement for her
grandfather. He made everything okay whenever he came to visit, even the father acts right. The
grandfather was like the light in the family. He brought light to the dark, meaning he brought
happiness to the family experiencing sadness or not having a good communication relationship.
In The Two Grandmothers, the child was excited of her urban grandmother. She made church
dresses for her and even a hat with flowers. The child was even excited of the baby chickens and
the turkey gobblers and the sound they made. She was fascinated how her grandmother knew
everyone and loved going to church. In conclusion, both children showed excitement to an adult
who made them happy.

Suspense is a technique used in both stories. It is brought out in Emma when Emma saw Dory at
the train station and said, “You’re a mess”. At this point we knew that something is going to
happen. The train station is where Dory’s father goes to meet his mistress and that explains why
Dory is there. We eventually knew that Emma would realize that her husband is there with his
mistress. Likewise, in The Two Grandmothers, there is a suspense in which grandmother she
would choose. Which one would she prefer? Unfortunately, as the story continues, there are
clues to which one she preferred. Therefore, suspense is evident in both texts. In conclusion, both
children were innocent, excited about an adult and showed suspense in the story.