The Trouble with Donovan Croft by Bernard Ashley
**Overview of "The Trouble with Donovan Croft" by Bernard Ashley**
"The Trouble with Donovan Croft" is a poignant children's novel that explores the themes of alienation, communication, and racial identity through the experiences of a young boy named Donovan Croft. Faced with the upheaval of his family life when his mother returns to Jamaica to care for an ailing relative, Donovan finds himself placed in a foster home with the Chapman family after his father’s work commitments prevent him from caring for his son. This traumatic transition leads Donovan to become mute, which serves as a significant barrier to his social integration, particularly in a predominantly white society where he feels like an outsider due to his race and immigrant background.
The story is narrated through the perspective of Keith Chapman, one of the family members, who observes Donovan's struggles and the challenges posed by his silence, particularly in a school setting where he is subjected to bullying and misunderstanding. A pivotal moment occurs when Donovan finally speaks out of necessity, demonstrating the potential for overcoming communication barriers. Set against the backdrop of 1960s Europe, the novel captures societal issues relevant to the time, including family dynamics and racial tensions, while ultimately offering a hopeful resolution that emphasizes understanding and acceptance. The narrative reflects the complexities of childhood experiences and the journey toward connection and self-expression.
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The Trouble with Donovan Croft by Bernard Ashley
First published: 1974; illustrated
Type of work: Psychological realism
Themes: Emotions, family, and race and ethnicity
Time of work: The early 1970’s
Recommended Ages: 10-13
Locale: London, England, and surrounding suburbs
Principal Characters:
Donovan Croft , a black foster child of Jamaican descent living with the Chapmans, a white familyKeith Chapman , Donovan’s friend, companion, and defenderDoreen Chapman , Donovan’s foster mother and Keith’s natural motherTed Chapman , Donovan’s foster father and Keith’s natural fatherMr. Croft , Donovan’s natural father, who is temporarily unable to take care of Donovan because of work obligationsMr. Henry , a teacher to Donovan and Keith at Transport Avenue Junior SchoolMr. Roper , the school’s principalMrs. Parsons , a heartless, loud-mouthed neighbor to the CroftsFluff , Keith’s guinea pig and an object of affection for Donovan
The Story
The Trouble with Donovan Croft is essentially the story of a young boy who becomes an isolate through circumstances and not through any choice of his own. Donovan Croft’s parents must temporarily separate because Mrs. Croft’s father is sick, probably dying, and she chooses to return to Jamaica to be with him against the wishes of Donovan’s father. The youth is further traumatized when his father, because of his work schedule, is unable to take care of Donovan with any regularity and so must place him in the hands of social workers who find a foster home for him with the Chapman family.
Donovan responds to these shocking changes in his life by not speaking: It is never clear whether he does not speak as a willful expression of his anger and revulsion or because he is physically unable to do so as a result of the psychological damage. In either case, this inability/refusal to communicate forms the basis for his psychological isolationism. Additionally, the matter is made more complex because Donovan is black and an immigrant, living in what is basically a white society where he is something of an outsider.
The story is told from the point of view of the Chapman family, and, in particular, the events unfold as they are seen through the eyes of Keith Chapman. At the beginning, the family prepares for Donovan Croft’s arrival in their home. The reader soon sees the anxiety that this occurrence creates in all members of the family. Despite the changes, all goes well except for problems that develop when Donovan does not speak. The Chapmans accept this silence and live around it, but Donovan’s first day at school is a different matter.
Here, it becomes Keith’s lot to explain, protect, and defend his foster brother’s peculiar behavior. There occurs a ghastly episode when Mr. Henry, the boys’ teacher, loses his control after Donovan fails to answer his name during roll call. Mr. Henry calls Donovan “a stupid black idiot” and strikes him. Donovan then runs away from school. The Chapmans are notified, and Mr. Roper (the principal) organizes a search with all the teachers and pupils at the school, seeking Donovan. They fail to find him and are ready to call the police when he is discovered hiding in a building behind the Chapmans’ house.
Donovan’s father writes a letter to him before a short visit. Mr. Croft has no explanation for Donovan’s sudden inability to speak. Mr. Chapman decides that the boys and their fathers should go together to a soccer game near Donovan’s home; he hopes that the excitement of the game and his father’s influence and presence might entice him to speak. The plan, however, does not work; as they are leaving the game, Keith steps in front of a car, and Donovan, in the sense of the emergency, calls out to warn him. After that, he goes on to talk, thus ending the trouble with Donovan Croft.
Context
Although this novel appeared in 1974, it is essentially a product of the cultural milieu of the 1960’s in Europe. This is not to say that the novel can be accurately described as a “sixties timepiece”; it cannot. The concerns of the author are readily identifiable as those of the time in which he reached his prime as a writer. In his novels, he visits the world of children of the day, and in so doing, he takes the prevailing attitudes and convictions about life held by the society at large to explore their reality for an individual child.
Thus, such matters as alienation of the self, a lack of communication, deterioration of the family, and racial tensions are all set in the context of the society and its problems. At the same time, The Trouble with Donovan Croft is a children’s novel; such problems, while realistically described, are all successfully dealt with at the end. As in all Ashley’s novels, circumstances eventually work toward a positive end. The writer typically focuses on misunderstood children who do not fit into their immediate world; school life and home life are depicted in what is, on the one hand, thoroughly sanitized and, on the other, realistically focused on genuinely captivating events. The novel, like his others, studies the behavior and motivation of children in trouble through no fault of their own. The school setting and home life provide important and necessary backdrops in the resolution of conflict.
That Donovan Croft is unable to speak embodies problems of all young people growing up. An inability to communicate carried to this utmost extreme is both generational and nongenerational. That Donovan Croft is finally able to talk when it is required for the simple reason of doing what is right and necessary shows that such limitations in communication and emotions can and will eventually be overcome.