On The Growth Of Diamond In George Macdonald’s At The Back Of The North Wind

George Macdonald, the famous Scottish author, poet, Christian minister, was known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels. He paid special attention to the growth of the children, and has made great contributions to the Children’s Literature. At the Back of the North Wind is Macdonald’s most famous fairy tales, as soon as its publication in1871, it has won great popularity among adults and children. Therefore, the novel was regarded as the milestone in Children’s Literature.Diamond, the protagonist of the novel, lived in London in the Victorian. Diamond had a special friend, whose name was North Wind, and from her, he knew the Dream Land—"At the Back of the North Wind." With the help of North Wind, Diamond went to this Dream Land. After Diamond’s back from the place, he became more optimistic, braver and considerate. He helped his family go through difficulties in hard time and possessed the qualities that his peers did not have. For Diamond’s deeds and words, he was called "God’s baby" and "Little Angel".The thesis analyzes the Growth Process of the protagonist. The thesis is to study the protagonist’s growth process from two aspects:psychology and social identity. The psychological growth mainly includes the protagonist’s intellectual growth, emotional growth and growth in self-awareness. Through the discussion from these three parts, it can be concluded that the protagonist has grown matured gradually in psychology. The development in social identity is mainly discussed from the aspect of being a social person; the protagonist grew from unaware of social identity to aware of social identity and finally established his own social identity. The protagonist’s establishment of social identity symbolized his maturity as a social person. The protagonist’s growth in psychology and development in social identity are the major aspects of his growth, and through the analysis of these two aspects, it can be concluded that he had become more and more mature as a whole person. However, the guides in the protagonist’s growth process have great impacts too. There are two guides in Diamond’s growth process. One is guide in dream world—North Wind; the other is guide in real world—Mr. Raymond. They played great roles in Diamond’s growth process and were the external causes for his growth. Through the interaction and promotion of inner cause and external cause, Diamond’s healthy growth achieved. Diamond’s growth in psychology and development in social identity is the symbol of his growth. The growth process is full of hardships and setbacks, therefore, both Diamond’s efforts and the guides during the process are important. The guides in the process provide instructions to Diamond, so as to make him not lose his way during the process and make him grow into a "whole person" with sound personality. Diamond grew from an innocent boy to a brave, wise and strong "big boy", who had the traits that his peers did not possess. The growth process of Diamond is a positive one and should be praised, which calls for the attention to the healthy growth of the kids.