Gorilla is the seventh picture book published by Antony Brown in 1983. This picture book has won many awards, including the British kate greenaway Prize, and has been translated into fourteen languages and published. The British "Times" commented on "Gorilla" in this way-"This is a classic children's literature, describing a wonderful and touching story of a lonely little girl and a kind gorilla." Night outing may be real or illusory, which is consistent with his "surreal" style.
Taking care of the disadvantaged children, class relations and family problems is one of the themes that anthony browne is most keen on and good at expressing since his debut, even his distinctive personal style! For example, The Zoo shows the indifference and authority in a family's daily life. The Story of the Zhujiajian vividly describes the collapse of a family. "Tunnel" describes the disharmony between brother and sister. Also, The Walking into the Forest, which I am watching recently, is also about the trauma that parents' discord brings to children's hearts. He tried to provide a free space for those traumatized adults and children through picture books.
The Gorilla is set in a single-parent family. This is a heavy and sad topic, but anthony browne has written it into a fantasy story. The gorilla with a red white tie and a sudden visit in the middle of the night can be regarded as Anna's imaginary father's body double.
? At the end of the story, the author didn't explicitly point out that it was a dream, which is the charm of anthony browne! One of the biggest features of anthony browne's works is to tell stories with pictures, which is why I love his works. More details and connotations of the book Gorilla are contained in the pictures. One example is that the text only says how busy dad is, and he never has time to spend with Anna, and even a word like "lonely" is not used. But through the first three pictures (breakfast Anna and expressionless dad sit at the table; Dad was buried at his desk, and Anna looked at him in an awkward way behind him. There was a long shadow on the ground. In the dark room, poor Anna sat alone in the corner watching TV.) We immediately realized Anna's loneliness, and the cold feeling brought by her father also came from the cool decoration in the restaurant. Dull food on the table; The cold high wall that dad walked through to work; Anna's awkward body language when talking to her father and the high chair back that separates father and daughter. Seeing this, you can't help but sympathize with Anna's experience, and you can't help being shocked by your father's indifference and the sense of alienation between father and daughter. Especially the picture of Anna watching TV alone in the room, the author deliberately painted Anna very small, and the room was very big and empty. By contrast, even the dull reader will strongly feel Anna's lonely heart.
? We can also find more things from the picture: for example, eyes. From the beginning to the end, Anna's father never looked at Anna. From the moment the gorilla stood at Anna's bedside, she showed a kind of warm and loving eyes, and then looked at each other more than once.
? For example, in the background, on the page where Anna and her father are sitting face to face on the dining table, the cabinets behind her father and the floor tiles at her feet all present a rigid and inflexible geometric shape; By the end of the book, the crude and lifeless background has been replaced by the comforting flower wall pattern.
? The distance between two people and the change of food. The distance between Anna and her father at the dinner table contrasts with the intimate distance between Anna and the gorilla, and the tasteless food at home also contrasts with the rich dessert at the gorilla table.
? Changes in color. At first, the cold and bleak tone is very consistent with the lonely mood of the protagonist; Later, when Anna woke up from her sleep, it was soft and bright, and the overall color was like spring until her father finally said, "Do you want to go to the zoo?"
? This book also hides some seemingly ridiculous things, but it is full of profound meaning. The Mona Lisa in Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa hung on the stair wall indicates the lack of a female role in this family; The mother in Whister's "The Painter's Mother" hanging in the lobby also said that Anna was more eager for the arrival of her father's love while lacking maternal love; The appearance of the Statue of Liberty just reflects that the mother is a goddess in her daughter's heart.
The two doorknobs in Anna's foyer, one gold and one silver, seem to tell readers that choosing different doorknobs can lead to different worlds, and then on the next page, we see that they twist the silver doorknob, which is the fantasy world that the gorilla led Anna into.
? Chaplin's poster outside the cinema, as well as a cowboy in the west, superman in the movie, and Che Guewana's poster have also been secretly replaced by a gorilla. The author also wants to tell readers that the father has always been like a hero in his daughter's heart through the roles of cowboy, superman and hero. And why Chaplin is also a recent daughter's sentence made me understand. My daughter said that the funniest thing in our family is my father, so the other side of my father's daughter is teasing.
? Anna rode on the gorilla's shoulder when she came home. This is the most common picture of father and daughter, and Anna, who lacks her father's love, felt deep love at this point. The dance that the gorilla led Anna also reminded me that my daughter's first adult dance in the west was with her father.
? Finally, Anna's father put a banana in the trouser pocket of his jeans, which is impossible for any reader to ignore, and it is this banana that makes us wonder whether the gorilla is pretending by his father.
? A good picture book tells a story on any page. In fact, the cover clearly points out Anna's inner desire. She hopes that her father can lower his body and mind like the gorilla with his arms hanging on the branches, take a good look at her, understand her and meet her needs. It seems that the author only reflects the children's mood, difficulties and needs in the story, but actually presents the adults' weaknesses, limitations and problems according to the facts. Just as Anna's father, despite the powerlessness of single parents in raising their children and working hard, and the character of not being good at expressing emotions, still silently cares for and waits for his daughter in his own way (which is also the reason why the gorilla doll returned to Anna's pillow later), men always think that giving children a rich material life is the embodiment of love, and often ignore their inner spiritual desire. In the end, my father's heart was moved by Anna's love, and he crossed the barrier of the back of the chair and kissed his daughter in a condescending manner to understand and meet her needs and re-establish their intimate relationship.
I like Gorilla because it reminds me all the time like a warning slogan, making me understand that I should pay more attention to her inner world while giving my child a material life. This reminds me of teacher Wang Renping's words: "Cultivating" means "accompanying and raising". We are busy all day looking for ways to cultivate children's ability and quality, but we often don't even have the patience to accompany them. We want to omit the process of nurturing, and we just want to educate our children in simple, rude and quick-acting ways such as preaching, beating and cursing, while ignoring the construction of good family relations. Relationship precedes education and includes education. With a solid parent-child relationship, education will become relaxed, happy and natural.