Intentionally the authors of all three stories have decided to drag the theme into the main characters taking the step from childhood to adolescence. When the Wasps Drowned by Clare Wigfall uses the wasps as a tool to show how their childhood changes and how they grow up, very similar to how Mrs Rutters tale in the story of The Darkness Out There by Penelope Lively changed Kerry and Sandra as individuals. Examination Day, though having a way different plot also has a theme of main characters changing but in this story the character that changes are the parents. The theme of the main characters to take the step from childhood to adolescence because of their surroundings is set up clearly in the introductions of all the stories where they …show more content…

Meanwhile in Examination Day, the main young character Dickie Jordan is described young and innocent in a much different way and this is very much linked with the dramatic ending. Dickie is early on in the story described as curious about the upcoming examination, something every child in his position would be: “He was an alert-eyed youngster with flat blond hair and a quick, nervous manner. He didn’t understand what the sudden tension was about, but he did know that today was his birthday, and he wanted harmony above all.”
This quotation indicates that Dickie still wanted to be young, he didn’t want to stress about anything and just be happy and his parents were trying to this as good as they could. In general, all these 3 stories have introductions where the main younger characters are described as young, innocent or curious and above all matter a child.

The older characters in each story make the characters realise that everything is not a walk in the park and that being an adult is tough and brutal. In the story of The Darkness Out There Mrs. Rutter is described very stereotypically to the reader in the beginning but as Sandra and Kerry gets to know her better her true sides comes out to the reader. When she tells Kerry about the Second World War accident at Packers End Kerry started reacting: “The boy shoved his chair back from