English Lit SPM

Step by Wicked Step: Describe the obstacles that the main character faced. With close
reference to the text, how did he or she overcome these obstacles?
Support your answer with close reference to the text.
I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine as there are many main
characters in the novel who have faced a lot of obstacles in their life. This novel is regarding
five British school children from Stagfire who had arrived ahead of their classmates for a
week-long field trip at "haunted' Old Harwick Hall. They found a long-abandoned secret
room containing a mysterious journal which uncovered a heart rending story of Richard
Clayton Harwick, who runs away from the sinister influence of a loveless stepfather. This
discovery made them reveal and share their own engrossing, heart-rending stories filled with
hurting and healing moments.The main characters that I choose is Richard Clayton Harwick
because he faced a lot of obstacles in his life and finally managed to overcome them in the
midst of sadness.
One of his obstacles is rejection of love. Richard felt that his love was being rejected by
his mother and his sister as his mother never defended him when his cynical stepfather
confronted him. His sister never supported him when he gave his opinion. Richard tried to
run away from this obstacle by running away from home to work at sea.
The second obstacle is when his stepfather sent him to Mordanger School. This is
because his stepfather wanted to teach him to be good and not rebellious. However in
Mordanger School Richard had learned nothing except how to freeze , how to starve and he
was also bullied and beaten. Her mother said that everything his stepfather did was for his
own good, so he will grow up strong and manly and be a son whom they can be proud of.
Later in the novel, Richard could not face the reality when he saw the letter from
Charlotte. He realised that he had made bad choices that caused his loved ones pain and
sorrow. He misunderstood that his mother and his sister really loved him. When he run away,
his mother spent a lot of money to search for him until her mothers financial ruin and led to
her early death. His sister had to sacrifice herself when she had to marry a rich person whom
she did not love. It is because she just wanted the money to search for Richard. He
misunderstood his mother,father and sister and he felt unloved all the while until one day he
got a news of a will. When he returned, he realised in grief his father gave all these land of
Old Harwick Hall to Richard.
Richard have made a lot of mistake on handling his obstacle. He should think deeply and
wisely so that he will not regret. So when we want to handle any obstacle we have to think of
our loved ones and we have to make sure that it will not affect people around us.
Write about
(a) a difficult situation faced by one of the characters
(b) how the character managed to resolve the problems in that situation
Based on the Form 5 novel 'Step by Wicked Step' by Anne Fine, a character that faced a
difficult situation is Claudia from the story 'Green Pyjamas'.

Claudia's difficult situation stemmed from the dissolution of her parents' marriage. Her
father then moved out to live with his mother and later, he got a new girlfriend named Stella.
Although Claudia knew very well that Stella did not play a part in her parents' divorce, she
could not help feeling a sense of loyalty and faithfulness towards her mother. Hence, she
rejected all of Stella's warm advances and ignored Stella. She also pretended to hate all the
time she spent at her father's place although she knew that her actions would hurt Stella's
feelings.
At a dinner party hosted by her father and Stella, Claudia rudely rejected Stella's invitation
for her to join them. However, fueled by her curiosity, she sneaked down and eavesdropped
on the guests. To her surprise, she noticed that her father's friends were all ignoring Stella probably out of loyalty to Claudia's mother whom they had been friends with too. From an
outsider's point of view, Claudia realized how unfair they had all been to Stella. All the guests
left Stella out of their conversations, leaving her in an awkward state of silence. They did not
even seem to appreciate the food that Stella laboured over.
At that very moment, Claudia decided to resolve the problem that had been plaguing her.
She decided to make things right. She changed into the pair of green pyjamas Stella got her,
and ran down surprising both Stella and her father's friends. Claudia then exclaimed how
much she loved the pyjamas - a simple act but with profound impact - and instantly, her
fathers' friends began to warm towards Stella. From that day onwards, Stella and Claudia
maintained a warm relationship.
In a nutshell, Claudia faced a difficult situation in feeling torn between both her parents. In
a divorce, it is often hard for a child to accept that his or her parents are not a single entity
any longer. However, in the end, Claudia resolved the problem by doing what was right. She
understood that it was very mean and unfair to treat someone badly for something that was
not their fault. It is something that all of us should take note of in our lives. Our actions might
seem minute but the consequences could mean the world to someone else.

From the novel 'Step By Wicked Step' by Anne Fine, I like Claudia from the story the Green
Pyjamas. I like Claudia because she is kind, loyal and she can be very mature and wise.
Claudia is a very kind girl. During her father's birthday party, Claudia wears her green
pyjamas given by her father's girlfriend, Stella. She decides to do this because she feels that
the guests in the party are very rude when they refuse to talk to Stella. They act like Stella is
invisible and Claudia feels angry because Stella is actually a very nice person.
Other than that, Claudia is also a loyal daughter to her mother.She knows that her mother
hates the fact that her father is happy with a new woman in his life so she pretends that she is
unhappy when she has to go to her father's house. Claudia also refuses to accept Stella's
kindness because she wants to show that she is loyal to her mother.
Lastly, Claudia shows that she is very mature and wise. Claudia feels that the guests for
her father's birthday party are very rude. They do not want to acknowledge that Stella is her
father's new love by giving her a cold shoulder during the party. Claudia is very angry with
all those immature adults so she decides to give all of them a lesson by wearing her new

green pyjamas and showing it off in front of the guess, hinting that Stella and her are very
close. The guests are ashamed so they start to treat Stella nicely after the incident.
From these three reasons, I choose Claudia as the character I like the most. Claudia shows
that she is a good daughter to both her mother and father and she is also kind enough to
accept Stella as her future step mother.

What is the most important moral value that you have learnt from the novel you have
studied? With close reference to the text, give reasons to support your answer.
I choose the novel Step by Wicked Step written by Anne Fine. The most important moral
value that I have learnt from this novel is honesty. There are many examples which show the
importance of honesty throughout this novel.
First of all, we can see that in this novel, parents are not being honest to their children. They
do not tell their children what is happening between them. This causes the children a lot of
stress and worry. For example, Lilith Harwick does not tell her children that their father is
dying. We see how distressed Richard is when guessing the truth about his father's condition.
When Colin's mother decides to leave Colin's dad and move up north, she does not explain
the reason to Colin. Colin does not like his new life and misses his dad a lot, but his mother
does not seem to be aware of how he felt.
Apart from that, the parents' lack of honesty makes the children keep their thoughts and
feelings to themselves. This is bad because it may cause the children to take the wrong action.
For example, Colin stops talking about his dad to his mother, but plans to run away to find
him one day. However, when parents are honest about their feelings and open up to their
children, their relationship will get better. This can be seen in the case of Lucy and Pixie.
After they burst out and tell each other their true feelings, their relationship improves a lot.
Pixie respects Lucy and Lucy gives Pixie time and space to adapt to her new family.
In a nutshell, honesty is the most important moral value that can be learnt from this novel
because it helps to heal and rebuild relationships in the family. I hope everyone can practice
honesty in their lives.

THEMES

1 The importance of preserving the family unit

This is the central message in the novel. The family institution is a solemn entity. It is created
when two adults decide to tie the knot through their marriage vows. Hence, parents are
mainly responsible in keeping the family unit intact through love and understanding because
divorce and separation can only lead to ugly consequences as clearly shown in the novel.
The family institution should also provide security to children. However, when it is broken,
children feel helpless and they feel they are victims of the situation. The novel reveals how
the five children cope with difficult times when their parents marriage fails.

Claudia and Pixie for example, have to undergo emotionally painful and tumultuous moments
to get used to their parents divorce. The ugly effects of divorce and separations are also
shown in the way Claudia and Pixie resist their step parents and siblings. The quarrels, the
screaming, the sibling rivalry demonstrate that the harmony that is central in their families
has long gone. Children suffer most from broken homes and they need a lot of time to adapt
to their new situation. This is true in the case of Pixie, who needs a great deal of time to
adjust to her step mother and step sisters, Sophie and Hetty.
The family institution must be preserved at all cost to avoid unnecessary sufferings on the
part of the children. Parents must protect their children from the effects of divorce as much as
possible. If a divorce is unavoidable, parents need to ensure that every care is taken to make
life as normal as possible for their children.
2 Acceptance and tolerance
Learning to accept and tolerate new members in the family is important when a divorce
happens. The novel shows how children learn to accept their new family members and
make the best of their new circumstances. Although this sounds a big task for them, they all
end up accepting their new life at the end of their stories. Despite their being young, they
realize how important it is to learn to share belongings and love with their step siblings. For
example, Pixie has to learn to share her bedroom with her step sister Hetty. She has to tolerate
her privacy being taken away causing her to devise ways to get rid of Hetty from her
bedroom. She considers her bedroom is her territory and Hettys presence an intrusion.
However, she manages to get her room back after a heated argument with her step mother. In
the end Pixie learns to tolerate her step sisters and accepts their differences.
Acceptance and tolerance can also be seen in Claudias story. She learns to accept the
presence of her step mother when her fathers marriage to her real mother fails. The green
pyjamas her step mother gave her and the dinner hosted by her step mother one night play a
role in bringing them closer. Despite her earlier resentment towards her step mother, Claudia
makes a big decision that it is not fair for her to hate her step mother. In doing so she also
shows her maturity despite her young age. In Pixies story, she is shown to accept the fact that
her new stepmother is having as much trouble "adjusting" as she is. It is amazing how these
young characters show a lot of strength despite the distinct problems they face in their
families. They learn to accept things around them gradually because they do not have a
choice. Furthermore that life has to go on.
3 Responsibility
This is another theme that is evident in the novel. Responsibility is shown in different ways in
the novel.
Marriage entails responsibility. It is about building a family and raising children that are part
and parcel of a marriage partnership. This will include providing shelter, clothing, education
and love. Therefore if a marriage is broken, children would be directly affected. Parents
therefore must accept that they still have a responsibility to ensure that the divorce does not
cost their children more than it already has. One of the ways this is shown in the novel is by
the turns or visits the children have with their new families. Their parents although divorced,
insist that their children take turns to visit them. Pixie for instance goes to her step familys
house a few days in a month while Ralph has a more hectic and complicated schedule. He
has to divide the weekdays to be at his divorced parents house. It is a pity that he has to
shuffle his time between his parents but he pretty much accepts his situation without
complaints.
The step parents also try their best to be responsible towards their step children. Stella tries to

make Claudia feel comfortable every time she is with them. Colins mother shows a different
kind of responsibility though. She moves to a different place to protect her son from her
rough-house husband. Although Colin misses his father very much, his mother has made the
right decision for their safety. Another example is Robbos step father who sends Callie, his
sister to school every morning and works over time to pay for repairs for the house.
It is fair to say that no one would wish for a divorce but when it happens, parents have to
carry out their responsibilities well. They have to be sensitive to the needs of their children
since children have a natural attachment to their parents. Sometimes children are simply
attached to their surroundings, and moving into new surroundings can cause an
understandable negative reaction. Colin for instance has trouble learning being half asleep in
school.
4 Children have opinions too
This theme is portrayed through the five main characters in the novel. Since all the main
characters come from broken homes, we learn that they too want their opinions to be heard
and acknowledged. Very often than not, there is a communication breakdown between the
children and parents who undergo divorce. For example, Colin does not have a say at all
when her mother decides to move to another place to stay safe from his father. Colin has to
start all over in a new school and make new friends. His opinion is never sought. In another
example, Pixie shows that she wants to be heard. Her strong opinions about the adults around
her are revealed when she quarrels with Lucy, her step mother. She expresses her frustrations
and anger through her words.
The writer provides the opportunity for the children to voice out their opinions frankly and
honestly through the stories they tell. Through each of the main characters, we realize that
children too have opinions and that their opinions must also be sought. Pixie would like to
have a say about her room arrangement and Colin, although quiet, often wonders why his
mother makes decisions independently.
Through the main characters words and actions, we can also see a certain level of maturity in
the childrens thinking. They are not without opinions. But how many parents actually sought
for their opinions. Divorce is always an adults story and too often children are just trapped in
between. The novel in a way is a tribute to the childrens spirit. They make us see the depth of
their feelings and opinions through their unique stories. Too often childrens feelings are
unnoticed, ignored and or not taken seriously resulting in failure in building relationships in
broken homes.
MORAL VALUES
Family is everything
This is the main message in all the five stories from Claudia, Ralph, Colin, Pixie and Robbo.
Love is the factor that binds the family together but sometimes the family unit breaks down
due to a lack of understanding between parents. Most of the time, children are not prepared
for such a situation and this lands them in an awkward and painful situation. It is important to
minimize the impact of divorce on children and to make sure they do not feel unwanted or
unimportant. Parents must always try to keep the family together despite the breakdown in
their relationship.
Patience is a virtue
It is important to practice a lot of patience in difficult times. No parents would want a divorce
if they can help it. Hence, everyone affected by a divorce must be patient and tolerant.

Richard Clayton Harwick does not show enough patience when he leaves his family because
he cannot get along with his step father. As a result of his action, his mother dies of
heartbreak and his sister blames him for being selfish and cruel. In Pixies story, she does not
show much patience towards her step siblings. She refuses to share her bedroom with Hetty.
She is also hard headed and argues intensely with her step mother.
We must learn to adapt to new situations
Children from broken homes have no choice but to learn to adapt to new situations. This may
be unfair to the children who seem to be the victim of circumstances beyond their control.
However, in the five stories told, we learn that adapting is better than resisting although it
takes a lot of patience and effort on the childrens part. Claudia shows she is a rational and
sensible child to accept her step mother. Ralph, who has three step mothers, gets along with
all of them despite their different personalities.
Dont give up hope
Colins story is the saddest of all. He does not give up hope of one day finding Jack whom he
accepts as his own father. He's saved up all of his money and plans to look for his dad when
the time is right. Colin is a very determined person despite his young age. He knows what he
wants. Robbo also hopes his sister Callie will accept their step father Roy. However, Callie
resents Roy and decides to live with her real father in the end.