The fifth child
Introduction :
The fifth child, written by Doris Lessing, reads about Harriet & David Lovatt, who decide to start a large family which will be wonderful. Harriet is an old-fashioned woman attached to the family's values ; & as for David, he is a very determined man who knows what he want, that is, a home full of children. They are in a sense, in the same view about the conception of a family. But the happiness is short-lived & things take a turn for the worse...
I-The nightmare grows up.
1.A lot of unforeseen.
Everything started by having a child sooner than expected whereas they had just acquired their new house, not counting the expenses implied by this purchase, that is, the furniture & the refurbishment of the house. Then, Harriet discovered David's real personnality, he seemed different from the first time she met him. Indeed, although they had decided to put off having children for two years, David & her made love, & with a deliberate and concentrated intensity he made her accept his " taking possession of the future in her ". A few months later, Harriet was pregnant. Her first child, Luke, was born in 1966, just after Christmas, & Easter this year was the first of the family parties. But, all this posed money problems for them because some people didn't share in the cost & they had to assume the expenses by themselves. Then, the pregnancies followed on, which didn't help matters. Harriet was very tired and even worn out because of all this childbirth. Moreover, everything quickened, & their plans were foiled.
2.The family reacts
They had had four children in six years, which was amazing for their family who decided to get involved in their parental life : Dorothy came to her daughter's assistance because she couldn't manage everything by herself ; Molly & Frederic didn't understand their behaviour, James had to take new expenses whenever the Lovatts were in trouble. But, we can assume that,