Ocean at the End of the Lane Themes by Me
Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman is the story of a seven-year-old who goes on an adventure where his life is stripped by him by a flee named Ursula Monkton. The central theme of this novel is about what happens when your world held up by lies is shattered.
The first way that the novel does this is by the financial strain of the family. The main issue is that they bought an expensive house, and as such, they struggle to pay bills. As a result, they are forced to rent out a bedroom. Many people come, but the most important is the opal miner. He had made his money by opal mining, and he went to a London casino. Realizing that he had spent his friend’s money and lost it, he wrote a letter saying that “To all my friends, Am so sorry it was not like I meant to and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for I cannot forgive myself”(28). This gave off the revelation to the flee called Ursula Monkton that all people care about is money. She then decided to give people some. This made Ursula liked by the family after she made her door. She was able to give people what they wanted. The theme of money is the driver of the plot, and as such, when the book ends, they sell the home to lift the financial difficulties.
The second theme is the lies of childhood like Santa or the tooth fairy. In the novel, the dad has an affair with Ursula Monkton. That made the narrator realize that this narrator’s parents were not in love as much as they had been. The second theme is that they will never hurt you, and shatters when his dad water boards him. This realization shatters the narrator’s world so much that he runs away and no longer calls his house his home “I wanted to go home. But the home I knew, not the home with Ursula Monkton”(120).
The final and most important theme in the novel is that grown-ups are grown-ups and know exactly what to do. Lettie says to the narrator that “Grown-ups are grown up on the outside. But on the inside, they are kids”(154). Young Ms. Helmstock is the perfect representation of Lettie’s grown-up. On the outside, she is a mom, but on the inside, she doesn’t know many of the Helmstocks’ secrets like cut and snip. Old Ms. Helmstock is the embodiment of a Grown-up on the outside and the inside. She knows all of the secrets and can do a lot and knows everything.
In conclusion, the Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman is the perfect conflict with these three themes.