The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
"The Railway Children" by E. Nesbit is a classic children's novel set in Edwardian England, focusing on the lives of three siblings—Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis—who face significant changes after their father mysteriously disappears. The story begins with the family moving to a rural house near a railway, where the children navigate their new circumstances amidst economic struggles and their mother's efforts to manage their household. As they embark on various adventures, including acts of kindness and bravery, they learn important lessons about responsibility and compassion.
The children's interactions with the local railway community, particularly a kind old gentleman who plays a pivotal role in their lives, highlight themes of empathy and social connections. The narrative culminates in the revelation of their father's wrongful imprisonment for treason and his eventual return, offering a sense of closure and family reunification. Nesbit's storytelling blends humor with moral lessons, making her characters relatable and realistic. "The Railway Children" remains significant in children's literature for its engaging portrayal of childhood experiences and its exploration of broader social themes.
Subject Terms
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
First published: 1906 (serialized 1905-1906)
Subjects: Coming-of-age, family, and social issues
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: The early 1900’s
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: A country house, village, and railway station in England
Principal Characters:
Roberta (Bobbie) , a twelve-year-old who tries to help out her mother and take care of her younger siblingsPeter , Bobbie’s ten-year-old brotherPhyllis , the youngest childMother , who supports the children by writingAlbert Perks , the porter at the railway stationThe old gentleman , a man who travels on the railway and befriends the childrenDr. Forrest , the village physician
Form and Content
The first chapter of The Railway Children begins by establishing Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis as ordinary middle-class children in Edwardian England, but such normalcy quickly vanishes when Father mysteriously leaves home. Father’s disappearance is the key problem of the novel and the force behind Bobbie’s growing up, and the book concludes with his return to the family. The primary events, however, are the adventures that the children have after moving with their mother to a country house near the railroad tracks.
Besides having their father absent and moving to a new place, the children must also cope with changing economic conditions; Mother must conserve both food and coal. The children’s scrapes and misadventures in the first part of the book are a result of their recent poverty. One time, Peter steals coal from the railway station and is caught; the station master forgives him, but Peter learns both shame and responsibility. When Mother falls ill and the children worry that they cannot afford the food that the doctor says she needs, they ask for help from the old gentleman whom they wave to every morning when his train goes by. When Mother recovers and learns what they have done, she is angry and tells them never to ask strangers for assistance.
Their later adventures, however, revolve around helping others. Their mother takes in a Russian political prisoner and writer who has escaped to England in order to look for his family, and Bobbie, trusting in the old gentleman (now revealed as a railway director) to help once more, asks him to find the man’s family. The old gentleman succeeds and shows great admiration and respect for the children’s mother. The children also manage to avert a train accident after a landslide has covered the tracks; provide a birthday party for the railway porter, Albert Perks; rescue a baby and dog from a burning barge on the canal; and help a boy named Jim who has broken his leg in the railway tunnel.
Eventually, Bobbie stumbles on an old newspaper article about her father and learns that he has been sentenced to hard labor for treason. Distraught, she speaks to her mother and learns that her father has been framed but that nothing can be done. They keep his true situation a secret from Peter and Phyllis, but Bobbie writes once more to the old gentleman, asking him to help clear her father. He turns out to be Jim’s grandfather, and he not only restores the family’s economic standing but also assures Bobbie that he has always had doubts about her father’s case and will do what he can. Several weeks later, their father is freed and returns to the family.
Critical Context
Edith Nesbit was recognized as an excellent writer for children during her lifetime and remains an important figure in children’s literature. While her adult characters are generally offstage or not well developed, her children are realistic and believable. They argue with one another, make mistakes, and struggle to be good without being priggish or too virtuous; Nesbit’s moral lessons are always accompanied by humor.
The Railway Children is typical of her work in its episodic structure, occasional sibling rivalry, and happy ending. Many of her other books, however, are more fantastical than The Railway Children. In Five Children and It (1902) and its sequels, The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904) and The Secret of the Amulet (1906), the children’s adventures occur through magic, such as the wishes that almost never turn out the way the children want them to in Five Children and It. Magic provides an opportunity for the children to learn about the world and themselves. Nesbit also uses it occasionally to make points about the English social order; in The Secret of the Amulet, the Queen of Babylon declares that her slaves are better off than the English working class. Nesbit’s work has endured not only because of its humor and realistic representations of children but also because of its way of engaging the reader with complex questions about human relationships and responsibilities.