MOTHER AND CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN JACQUELINE WILSON'S NOVELS

This study is qualitative in nature. It analyzed the relationships of the mother and children characters in Jacqueline Wilson's The Story of Tracy Beaker and The Dare Game. Using formalistic approach, it characterized the main characters in the novels. The results showed Tracy, Alexander and Football as the major children characters together with their mother figures, Carly Beaker, Camilla Lawson, Alexander's unnamed mother and lastly, Football's unnamed mother. Psychological approach was used to analyze the mother and child relationship of the characters mentioned that are found to be mostly unpleasant. In analyzing the reflections of the novel to the author's life, Psychobiography was used. In using Psychobiography, the characters in the novel are found out to be the based on the author herself and her experience as a child while growing up. Furthermore, the status of the relationship between the mother and child deeply affects how the child reacts and behaves in certain circumstances.