『ハイジ』にみられるハイジの病気

Abstract

A newly-born baby is obliged to be put in the program which grownups have made, whether he or she likes it or not. They urge the baby to adjust to the world into which he or she has just come, by suckling, changing diapers and toilet training. It is commonly assumed that children are imperfect, raw and lacking in many things, while grownups are perfect. Viewed from another angle, however, it may be said that a child still holds something primal and essential intact, which will be erased as he or she grows into adulthood, as William Wordsworth says, "The Child is father of the Man." Considering this, it is quite natural that children occassionally fall ill in the course of growing old, which is a symptom of their disturbed self and also a rest period during which they can restore themselves again. In Heidi by Johanna Spyri, Heidi, a girl freely brought up in a mountainous country is strongly contrasted to Clara, who is a daughter in a good family and has such a weak constitution that she has never been out of her house. Heidi brought fresh and pleasant air into this closed place, awakening Clara to it and later causing her to visit Heidi and her grandfather in their hut on the mountain. Moreover, by their eager help, Clara came to be able to stand on her own feet and walk after a long period in a wheelchair. In this sense, Heidi is a kind of a curer. This report, however, focuses on the illness which Heidi herself suffered. In the early part of this story, Heidi was taken from her home on the mountain to Frankfurt, or from nature to civilization. On the first morning in Frankfurt she got out of her bed to look out of the window, vainly expecting that she could see the same scenery as she had always seen in her home. Here, in the room assigned to her, surrounded only with walls under high windows, she felt blockaded. Meanwhile, mainly through Clara's grandmother, a kind and refined lady, she learned how to read and write, to restrain her willfulness and to be humble before God. As Heidi came to love and respect this old lady deeply, her longing for her home was unconsciously suppressed in the depth of her heart, but such a state of mind could not remain long. It caused her sleep-walking as well as the loss of a great deal of weight. Heidi was taken back home just before it was too late, and soon got over her illness. In the latter part of this story, Heidi grew up to be a fine girl, so these experiences of hers in Frankfurt might prove not to have been serious, but rather, to have contributed to her maturing process. In spite of this, Heidi's illness suggests that education, when not right to the case, can distort a child's free development of his or her identity.