SuitabookThe cat at the wall
Deborah Ellis
- Reading
- Read alongside the child, pausing after tense scenes to distinguish what characters experience from what the narrative suggests it means. Afterwards, discuss both personal compassion and the limits of individual action.
- Themes
- Individual responsibility: Clare begins as self-absorbed and indifferent, then faces a choice about helping a vulnerable child. The story presents conscious caring as morally important, while its focus on individual action may understate larger forces.
- Conflict and perspective: The narrative places a Palestinian child, Israeli soldiers and surrounding villagers in a rapidly escalating confrontation. The book presents this mainly as information or explanation.
- Harm and moral consequence: Clare’s earlier meanness and indifference are placed beside severe harm in the conflict around the house. The narrative treats thoughtlessness as morally consequential and invites redemption, but the parallel between petty wrongdoing and political violence may feel flattening.
- Worth knowing
- The book brings a child into a politically charged setting involving soldiers, surveillance, rocks, tanks, bereavement and a reported death at a checkpoint. Its treatment of at least one violent act may feel superficial.