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It is a wild and stormy night when five British school children from Mordanger School
arrive ahead of their classmates for a week-long field trip at "haunted" Old Harwick
Hall. With the aid of flashes of lightning, the two girls Claudia and Pixie and three boys,
Robbo, Ralph and Colin find a long-abandoned secret room containing a mysterious
journal. On the cover, it reads, ‘ Richard Clayton Harwick – My Story. Read and Weep’.
From the journal, the children uncover the story of a boy who runs away from the
sinister influence of a loveless stepfather. Richard Clayton Harwick's longhidden
journal provides an inner tale that triggers off, one by one, each of the stories of
the listening children, all of whom also have "steps," or step-parents, to share their
own sagas. And what engrossing, heart-rending stories they are: of hurting but still
humorous children picking their way through a minefield of embittered or
uncommunicative or just plain immature parents, insecure or reluctant step parents
and resentful step siblings. However, the lack of a principal plot is of no consequence
as the novel main purpose is to serve as a forum for the various stories. "Step by
Wicked Step" proves that all pain eventually heals and that we have the power to
change things
for the better.
PLOT SUMMARY
This novel is really five stories within a story that are induced by a story, like a nesting
puzzle. So, we have six stories in the book. There may be a lack of a principal plot here
but it is of no consequence as the novel’s main purpose is to serve as a forum for six
various stories of Richard Clayton Harwick, Claudia, Colin, Ralph, Pixie and Robbo. In
Step by Wicked Step, five boys and girls find themselves in an old house on a
stormy night. In a hidden tower room they discover an old diary, that of Richard
Clayton Harwick, who left behind a journal account of his wicked stepfather. “Read and
Weep,’ says the spidery writing on the cover of the book.
After Richard Clayton Harwick’s father passes away, he was sent to Mordanger School
for four long years. He wishes to burn Mordanger to ‘ashes’ as to him, ‘there’s no
meaner place on earth’ than this boarding school. When he returns to Old Harwick
Hall, he could not get along with his wicked and loveless stepfather, Reverend
Coldstone. Being ‘robbed of all his precious tokens’ from home, Richard makes the
decision to leave and become a cabin boy when ‘a great ship strains at the tide’. His
decision has caused anguish in his mother and sister, who have spent a fortune
seeking his return. He did not return to see his mother or sister until he read a square
print from Riddle & Flook which requested him to claim his ownership to Old Harwick
Hall. By then, Richard knows that his stepfather, mother and sister have passed on.
Only then, he realises his decision to leave has changed the lives of his family
members.
Harwick's story prompts Claudia, Colin, Ralph, Pixie and Robbo to tell their own tales of
stepfathers, stepmothers, and stepsiblings, who are in turn eccentric, beloved,
unwelcome, and almost always misunderstood. Each vignette* is a wonderful study of
human nature. As the lightning flashes, the children begin to relate their own tales of
step parents, stories that are full of warmth and humour, yet with a fair share of
sadness. At first it seems the children could have nothing in common. Sports-mad
Robbo, quick-witted Ralph, sensible Claudia, fiery Pixie and dreamy Colin seem as
different to each other as it is possible to be. Yet they soon find they have one thing in
common, and that they are all the products of broken homes and they once have a
turbulent relationship with a ‘step-’ or ‘steps-’ Below are the five stories in ‘steps by
wicked steps’ spin off from Richard Clayton Harwick’s ‘My Story. Read and Weep’. As
Ralph says, “Stories don’t have to be written,’ he reminded Claudia. ‘ This is the night
for stories. Off you go,’ he reiterated.
*vignette – n. /vin-‘yet, v n-/ descriptive passage within ѐ a larger work
(French, “little vine”)
From Wikipedia:
Chapter 1
On a wild and stormy night, five students, Claudia, Colin, Ralph, Pixie and Robbo, are sent
ahead on a school trip to Old Harwick Hall. Instead of taking the school bus with Miss O'Dell and
their other friends, they have to ride on a minibus with Mr. Plumley, one of their accompanying
teachers, to their destination. After arriving, they explore the building and find an old,
hexagonal tower room with five beds in it. In the dark of the night, with no electricity due to the
raging storm, Colin spots a door which leads to an old, abandoned room where they discover a
diary of a young boy by the name of Richard Clayton Harwick. Prior to reading the diary, they
wonder why they are put together in the minibus. They achieved the answer after
eavesdropping on Miss O'Dell and Mr. Plumley's conversation - on Miss O'Dell's list, their names
had ticks which indicate that they each had two different addresses on their permission slips,
one for their mother's home and one for their father's home. Each child comes from a divorced
family. Alas, Pixie reads Richard's diary out loud for the other children to hear.
Chapter 2
Richard Clayton Harwick's father is ill and this worries everyone in Harwick Hall. Before his
death, he tells Richard to take care of his mother and sister, Lilith and Charlotte Harwick. After
that, Richard not only feels sad for his father's death, but also because his father had only
thought of his mother and sister instead of him until the end of his life. Later in the story, Lilith
marries Reverend Coldstone, a priest who is cruel towards Richard but is very nice towards
Charlotte. Richard is then sent to a boarding school called Mordanger School, where he is
treated like a prisoner. He then decides to run away and sail all over the world. He comes back
twice to Harwick Hall but never bothers to enter it or meet his mother and sister. He finally
returns home after reading a print which states that solicitors have something to his advantage
back home, discovering from a letter Charlotte had written before her death, that his family
had been searching for him until the end of their lives and how Reverend Coldstone had turned
out to be a very bad man. He then runs away forever, leaving his green diary in his room.
Here are the brief description of the vignettes of Claudia, Colin, Ralph, Pixie and
Robbo.
CHARACTERS
Name of character Descriptions/ Attributes/ Personality
Robbo School pupil, sports-mad especially football
Ralph School pupil, quick-witted, hardworking and occasionally likes
to intercept impolitely during a conversation
Colin School pupil, longs to be reunited with his stepdad, dreamy as
‘he drifts through the hours of each school day as if his
thoughts were hundreds of miles away’ and this ‘ drove his
teachers to despair’
Claudia Steady, sensible, did not get along well with her stepmother at
the beginning
Pixie Fiery, a good reader, selfish
Richard Clayton Owner of Old Harwick Hall, lost his father at a very young age.
Harwick His mother remarries the priest, Reverend Coldstone whose
wrath Richard cannot stand. He runs away, without knowing
that he has made a decision that will change three lives; his
stepfather’s, mother’s and sister’s. When he inherits Old
Harwick Hall, he has lost his three closest members of the
family.
Rev. Coldstone Richard’s wicked stepfather, strict and cold-hearted
Mr. Plumley A staff of the school who accompanies the children to Old
Harwick Hall
Miss O’ Dell The school teacher who picks five of the children on a trip
after
a quick glance at her list.
Mr. Digby Gardener at the Harwick’s household
THEMES
Family unity
The nucleus of moral values, “the family unit,” is being invaded by outsiders (‘step’ or
‘steps’) and this causes disharmony.
Dealing with adversities
Young children and adults may find difficulties dealing with frustrations, fears and
sadness.
Being happy
‘Life has dealt us one hard blow, there is no reason for us to be unhappy for ever’. For
example, Claudia realises it is not fair to hate her new stepmother, Stella.
Think long enough before making a decision
Richard Harwick made a rash decision to run away and that had changed the lives of
his stepfather, mother and sister.
Sibling rivalry
Resentful step-siblings cause burden and hostility in a home.
Coping with change
All pain eventually heals and that we have the power to change things for the better.
Being brave
Characters like Claudia and Pixie are brave as they confess to their own rotten
behaviour.
Dealing with Separation and Divorce
It deals with a social phenomenon that many people are experiencing, the idea of a
divorce
as somehow horrible. Separation and divorce, and the events leading up to them,
interrupts the stability and predictability that children need.
VALUES
1. It is important that children should tell their parents about their real feelings and
vice versa.
2. One has to be brave when facing adversities.
3. We must not judge someone without knowing all the facts. We should weigh our
pros or cons, and study the facts.
4. Adults or parents should be more thoughtful in making decision as it would affect
the lives of their children.
LITERARY DEVICES
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is exaggeration. It puts a picture into the reader’s mind. Anne Fine
occasionally
makes a point by overstating an action or object as in the following hyperboles:
Personification
Personification is a a figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are
endowed with human qualities or are represented as possessing human form. Anne
Fine uses personification to make this novel more dramatic and interesting or to
convey a certain mood. By using this literary device, it also helps us to relate more to
the object or idea that is being personified because it is easier for us to relate to
something with human attributes.
Repetition
This device is mostly used in two of the vignettes to emphasise on the
subject in hand, as
shown in the following:
1. ‘It isn’t a story,’ said Colin. ‘There isn’t anything to tell. We just went on.’ (p.51)
2. ‘There isn’t a story,’ said Colin. (p. 53)
3. ‘There isn’t a story,’ said Colin. ‘We just went on.’ (p. 56 )
4. ‘ I’ve told you,’ said Colin. ’There isn’t story. It’s just that, as we went on, I started
getting
into trouble at school…’ (p. 57 )
5. ‘Dumpa’s the problem’ (pgs 107,112,119 and 125 )