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A review by milesjmoran
The Changeling by Robin Jenkins
4.0
Tom knew very well that the majority of children were far more fortunate than he, but he had never envied them. Envy, like pity, was not in his creed. What he hoped to do or to become was apart altogether from what others did or became. To have been envious would have been to become involved and so weakened. His success, if ever it came, must owe nothing to anyone.
This novel is a really fascinating look at empathy; whether it comes from a place of genuine care and interest or for underlying selfish reasons to illustrate one’s own goodness. Jenkins brilliantly captures this complex issue through his characters as we watch their perspectives continually shift, from black to white and rarely grey. Through their eyes, Tom Curdie moves from being an innocent trapped in terrible circumstances to a duplicitous, untrustworthy character set out to deceive and ultimately harm them. We see the characters veer from one extreme to the other, and we see them fail Tom over and over again. We also have to scrutinise the motives of characters like Mr Forbes, as we ascertain whether he is just that naive to think he can change a young working class boy’s life by giving him a glimpse of middle class experience or if he’s merely doing it to look like a good person.
It’s a really tragic story of how those in poverty are demonised or made into these figures of pity, who are so ignorant and merely need to be shown the good side of life (i.e nice clothes, pretty surroundings and food) to change their ways. Tom is rarely given the opportunity to speak, as he conceals his emotions not only from the other characters but from the reader as well, which forces the reader to read between the lines and form their own opinions.
While some aspects of the story were complex, others felt a little two dimensional to me, particularly in the portrayal of Tom’s family, who are only depicted as slurring, grotesque creatures with missing teeth, terrible skin conditions and foul smell. Not all of it felt honest to me, which marred my feelings towards this book a little but it’s still an excellent novel that encourages its reader to think and unravel things for themselves.
This novel is a really fascinating look at empathy; whether it comes from a place of genuine care and interest or for underlying selfish reasons to illustrate one’s own goodness. Jenkins brilliantly captures this complex issue through his characters as we watch their perspectives continually shift, from black to white and rarely grey. Through their eyes, Tom Curdie moves from being an innocent trapped in terrible circumstances to a duplicitous, untrustworthy character set out to deceive and ultimately harm them. We see the characters veer from one extreme to the other, and we see them fail Tom over and over again. We also have to scrutinise the motives of characters like Mr Forbes, as we ascertain whether he is just that naive to think he can change a young working class boy’s life by giving him a glimpse of middle class experience or if he’s merely doing it to look like a good person.
It’s a really tragic story of how those in poverty are demonised or made into these figures of pity, who are so ignorant and merely need to be shown the good side of life (i.e nice clothes, pretty surroundings and food) to change their ways. Tom is rarely given the opportunity to speak, as he conceals his emotions not only from the other characters but from the reader as well, which forces the reader to read between the lines and form their own opinions.
While some aspects of the story were complex, others felt a little two dimensional to me, particularly in the portrayal of Tom’s family, who are only depicted as slurring, grotesque creatures with missing teeth, terrible skin conditions and foul smell. Not all of it felt honest to me, which marred my feelings towards this book a little but it’s still an excellent novel that encourages its reader to think and unravel things for themselves.