Voices in the Park

Voices in the Park – Critical Response

Voices in the Park, by Anthony Browne is full of power struggles on multiple levels. The whole book revolves around one day in the park, however it follows what each gorilla was thinking. As a result, we have four different perspectives of what went on in the park on this particular afternoon. The different perspectives are Charlie, Charlie’s mom, Smudge and Smudge’s dad. After reading the story, the reader is lead to assume several things about these four monkeys. Each of these voices offer new light onto the situation and make the reader come to the conclusion that status in society should have nothing to do with who your friends are.

This children’s book has issues of class in race, society, gender, and age. The aspect of race comes out in this story between the two families. The two parents have the same physical features in this story, just as the children do. The pet dogs however are of different breeds, one being black and the other being a pedigree yellow Labrador. There are a few actual humans in this book to, they seem to come alive throughout the story, first they are seen in paintings on the street, and then these people are then seen dancing on the street. Class issues are more prevalent in this story.. Charlie’s mom feels like she is superior to Smudge’s family because she is more proper, more clean cut, and has more money. The way in which she views other people also proves that she thinks she is better. Charlie’s mother says, “You get some frightful types in the park these days!” talking about Smudges dad, and “Then I saw him talking to a very rough-looking child” referring to Smudge. In both instances the mother is referring to the other family that is at the park in a negative tone. She is not looking past their outside appearance. Charlie’s mom has come to value these things, which does not make people who they are. They have a nice upper class life, you can tell this by many factors. Their house is big, and appears to be clean and neat. The way that they talk is more proper and well spoken than the father and daughter. Even the entrances that they use to enter and exit the park fit these class distinctions. Charlie and his mother leave through the entrance that has nice gates up. The exit that Smudge and her father use does not look as nice, consisting of brick slabs. Smudges family is different in the respect that they seem to be wearing clothes that appears raggedy. Smudge and her father have a different spoken language, they are straight forward, sometimes blunt and do not use proper English. We never see Smudges house but we can assume it is somewhere in the city slums. This assumption comes from the places that they pass on their walk to and from the park. Smudges father is dealing with other issues of unemployment, and does not even notice Charlie’s mom, he is also unaware of what his daughter and dog are doing. However, upon leaving the park Smudge’s dad does cheer up after seeing how happy the park had made Smudge and the dog. I think that he realizes that her being happy is important, not the fact that she does not have nice things. Charlie’s mom seems to have loss sight of this. The children’s values also differ in many ways from their parents’ values. Charlie felt lonely and when Smudge came up to him to ask him to go on the slide, he was disappointed because she was a girl, but he went anyway. Smudge surprised Charlie while they were playing, and they quickly became friends. Smudge thought that Charlie was a bit of a wimp, but ended up enjoying herself, and hopes to see him again. The values that the children are concerned about are simple things like being a girl or a boy, and not living up to those stereotypes. As soon as the two child monkeys started talking, they quickly forgot about those stereotypes, and we genuinely concerned that they may not see each other again.

Gender issues are not as apparent. The mother is in charge of her son, and the father is in charge of the daughter. There is no real arguing with the parents’ throughout the story. Both children do as they are told to. All four of these characters have a chance to talk in this story and all four have different views of what happened in the park. Each character has their own font, which distinguishes them from the others. Each font has their own characteristics that relates to their own attitudes and personal behaviors.

To me this book expresses the idea that class, gender, and race should have nothing to do with friendships, or the way you think of people. These two young children even though they clearly have grown up on different sides of the train tracks become friends. I think it implies that we should look further than clothes and outer appearance to see who a person really is on the inside. The book also shows that no matter where you come from, what kind of economic or social situation you are in, or the gender you are, you have the opportunity to be kind to everyone. Through this kindness, you may even gain a friend, just as Charlie and Smudge became friends. As children, the social and economic classes are not as apparent to them, and they see past it. Adults need to take a lesson from Smudge and Charlie. I definitely accept the view of the world show in Voices in the Park. It teaches a good lesson, and serves as a reminder to other readers not to judge a book by its cover.