When the Emperor Was Divine - Age
The age difference between the two siblings in When the Emperor Was Divine is obvious, the sister clearly has a better understanding of the situation compared to her brother. In the beginning of the book when the family had to pack up to leave, she only packs what is absolutely necessary while her brother packs a baseball glove. The sister comprehends the severity of the situation immediately and is able to grasp what is happening, only packing what she will need. On the contrary, her brother doesn’t seem to understand what is at stake. As the older sibling, his sister takes on a protective almost maternal role watching after her younger brother. On the train, his sister keeps him occupied with the idea of wild horses and they converse about that during the train ride as opposed to what awaited them. Similarly, once they get to the camp, his sister continues to watch after him and she attempts to make his experience at the camp as enjoyable as possible. For example, when she wins a nickel while playing bingo, she spends it on a coke for her brother instead of on something that would make her happy. Additionally, she keeps her brother company when they are in their small little room. They have conversations and play games and whenever he asks her to listen to music, she always says yes. However, as the book progresses, she starts spending less time with her little brother and more time going out with the friends she made. Nonetheless, the age difference between the two and the maturity levels shape their identities and relationships.
This is great Colin. The sense of maturity betweent he sister and the brother is definitely apparent and important part of what makes the story so interesting. We get to see the world through the eyes of the two characters who share different views. Age and maturity also play a bigg role with the mother and the children as well. We see the mother partition herself from the rest of the room with a hanging sheet that she sleeps on the other side of. This dislocation from the rest of her family shows how she is grieving because of the separation of her family. Even while she receives correspondance from her husband, from her own experience she knows things may be the same, or even worse for wherever he is being held. The children do not make this assumption because of their maturity through age.
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