Amanda!

-Robin Klein
About the Poetess
Robin McMaugh Klein is an Australian author of
books for children. She was born on 28th
February 1936 in New South Wales and now she
resides near Melbourne. She had her first short
story published at the age of sixteen. Several of
her books have been listed for CBCA Children’s
Book of the Year Award.
Some of her famous
writing
– Hating Alison Ashley
– Halway Across the Galaxy
– Turn Left
– Boss of the Pool
Central Idea
The greatest wealth that a child wants to possess is
his/her freedom. And the thing that he or she never
likes is the constant nagging, unwanted instructions and
even overprotection of the parents. ‘Amanda’ is the
story of a young girl who is constantly controlled and
instructed to do one thing or the other by her parents.
Every child wants to enjoy the dreamy and romantic
world of his/her childhood….
…She doesn’t want to cut this romantic and
fascinating world of hers short. Any kind of
instruction or interference curtails her freedom. She
doesn’t want to be denied chocolate and wants to sit
and behave exactly as she wants. She would rather
indulge in fantasies than clean her room or her
shoes. She wants to postpone growing up. She wants
to remain a child for just a little bit longer.
 Style
In ‘Amanda’, each of the stanza spoken by her mother
follows the rhyme scheme: aa ba. The last word of the
first, second and fourth lines are the same. On the other
hand, the stanzas spoken by Amanda consists of the
three rhyming lines each. The use of metaphor is used
effectively as a poetic device in 2nd, 4th and 6th stanzas.
Amanda imagines herself as first as a mermaid, then as
an orphan and finally becomes Rapunzel.
Short Summary…
Childhood – a Period of
Fantasies
Childhood is a period when children indulge in fantasies. But
when they start growing up, their parents expect to behave
more responsively. Parents start nagging and giving
instructions at every step. Children don’t want to be
instructed and guided the way their parents want. They feel
that their freedom is being curtailed. If parents keep on
nagging, their children escape to the dreamy world of
fantasies. They won’t want to come out of this fanciful world
so early.
Amanda is biting her nails

Her mother asks her not to do so. Nor does the mother
want that she should hunch her shoulders down. She
wants her to sit straight. Amanda seems
to be drooping her body towards one
side. Her mother wants her to adopt a
right posture and sit up straight.
Amanda doesn’t bother

Amanda doesn’t bother what her mother wants.

She is lost in her dreamy world. She imagines as if
she were in a quiet emerald island.
There is no one there except her. There,
she moves around freely and blissfully
like a mermaid.
Mother gives instructions

Amanda’s mother asks her if she has finished her

homework. She asks if she has made her room tidy
or not. Amanda has not cleaned her shoes yet. Her
mother has already asked her to clean her shoes.
Prefers to be an orphan

Amanda doesn’t want to be instructed at every step. She

wants to lead her own kind of life. She prefers to be an
orphan roaming aimlessly around the street. She wants to
walk over the soft dust with her bare
feet. She wants her bare feet leave
patterns on the dust. She wants to lead a
silent and a peaceful life. She wants to
preserve her freedom. It is the sweetest
thing to her in life.
No chocolates…
Amanda’s mother instructs her nit to eat chocolate. She
must remember that she has acne. Eating
chocolate can create problems for her.
Amanda doesn’t bother what her
mother is saying. Nor does she look at
her mother when she is giving her
instructions. The mother expects her
to look towards her while she is speaking.
Amanda Becomes
Rapunzel
Again, Amanda doesn’t care a bit what her mother says. She is
lost in her dreamy world. She imagines herself
as Rapunzel living in a lonely tower. In
that tower, life is free from all cares. It is rare
peace & tranquility that prevails there at
all the time. She is proud of her beautiful
hair as Rapunzel was. She will certainly
never let down her bright hair like her
Mother finds her Moody

Amanda’s mother asks her not to sulk or feel

unhappy any more. She feels that Amanda is always
moody and keeps on behaving like that she must
stop sulking and feeling unhappy. Otherwise,
people will think that Amanda is unhappy because
her mother is always nagging at her.
Title Justification

– The title ‘Amanda’ is quite suitable as its central

character is a young girl Amanda. The poem sketches
the mental state of a young girl, nagged and
reprimanded continuously by her mother. The control
on her is so constant that she has mentally switched
off and has chosen to love in her own beautiful inner
world, free of restraints.
Theme

– In this poem, the poetess explores the theme of excessive restraint

and control on young children and its consequences. Should parents
impose their own wishes and ways on children, or they should allow
their children to make their own ways of dealing with life? Klein
seems to believe in the latter view as her tone is sympathetic to
Amanda, who has to face a torrent of constant instructions which
she is expected to obey. Klein sees to ask that in such a situation,
when will the young Amanda express her own true self?
Message

– Robin Klein wishes to convey that extreme parental restriction

does not allow children to blossom fully and freely. The poem is
about an adolescent girl Amanda, who like every child feels that
her freedom is curtailed. She feels her life is controlled by lots of
dos and don’ts. She wants freedom from all restrictions. She
dreams to lead a life of a mermaid, in a languid, emerald sea with
her being the only inhabitant there. She feels that an orphan has
more freedom than her. She also wished to lead a calm and quite
life in a tower like that of Rapunzel with nobody to disturb her.
Amanda can only hope that her parents will allow her freedom of
action and expression.
Questions to write in the note.

– What picture do you form of Amanda’s mother/parents

after reading the poem? [short answer]
– Amanda’s efforts to escape into her own world of
imagination and dreams is mere escapism. Her mother’s
constant nagging drives her into such a world. Elaborate.
[long answer]
– Discuss the importance of proper upbringing with reference
to the poem ‘Amanda’ by Robin Klein. [long answer]