International Literature- Book 3

International Book Review

The Pull of the Ocean

By Jean-Claude Mourlevat

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mourlevat, Jean-Claude, and Y. Maudet. 2006. THE PULL OF THE OCEAN. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 9780385733489

PLOT SUMMARY
Yann Doutreleau was the youngest of seven children. He was special not because he was the youngest child but because he was small compared to his older brothers who were “tall for their age”. Some even said “he looked too much like a large doll” or called him a “midget”, but Yann also was a mute. Even though Yann was the youngest, smallest, and quietest he was the brightest and the unanimous leader of all the brothers. The Doutreleau brothers lived in poverty and by the urging of their youngest brother Yann on a dark and stormy night -they believed their lives were in danger from their parents. They escaped that very night and within a few seconds they were “drenched, freezing and lost”. This was the beginning of their journey west to meet the ocean. Their adventures of brotherly love are chronicled through the eyes of their brothers or the people that encountered the Doutreleau boys in the midst of their “Pull to the Ocean”.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jean-Claude Mourlevat’s modern spin on Charles Perrault‘s classic Tom Thumb is a mystical trip into a tale that captures the true spirit of brotherhood. He helps the readers understand the life of poverty and abuse the Dourtreleau boys endured, their food was meager “a piece of stale bread to soak in water”, or the sharp punishment to keep their children in line, “He smacked him a good one across the nose, it even bled”. These examples help set the tone for the believable message young Yann delivers to his older brothers -that their lives were endangered by their parents and they must leave at once.

This award winning author tells of the Doutreleau’s journey through different points of view. By doing this Jean Claude cleverly allows the readers to get to know the characters. For example, the social worker Natalie Josse recounts that she was one of the last people to see Yann and can remember how he looked in her back seat “wedged deep in the seat, fiddling with his hands, his funny little baby hands, red and plump” or Daniel Sanz’s –a truck driver’s remembrance of what the boys looked like “in the dark of the night, this brood of kids fell from the sky like lost kittens. Poor Kids”. These accounts help move the story along as the reader gets acquainted with all the characters by understanding their struggle and they even will enjoy watching the characters grow. Character growth is exhibited by the mother “Marthe’ll”, at the beginning she is disconnected but by the time they were finally reunited she calls they boys her children for the first time in the novel.

From cultural markers readers will gather that this novel is set in the French countryside. The first and last names of the characters such as; "Yann, Faubien, Remy, Jean-Michael, Sanz, and Doutrleau " give the readers insight to character’s French heritage. Mourlevat has the children travel the French country side visiting cities like "Bordeaux". The author does a nice job depicting the uneducated dialect of the French countrymen of the Doutrleaus as the text has the father referring to his wife as “The Marthe’ll” and using improper speech structure for example “I can’t remember no more, ‘cause I don’t keep track”.

This novel is led by the tiny but powerful character Yann as he brings the reader along for their journey west through the little window into the Doutrleau’s world. This novel shows the struggle for the young , small and mute boy realizing that there is more to their small, poor, and uneducated world through their window. Yann opens the door for his family “Over there is west.” “The sky is bigger than here, and then comes the ocean”.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Horn Book- “A powerful portrait of poverty and sibling solidarity”

Kirkus- “This French recasting of Perrault's Tom Thumb into a surreal contemporary version is both mesmerizing and strange”

CONNECTIONS

Children would enjoy writing another chapter expanding on Yan’s travel west. They could use their imagination of the adventures Yan would encounter is journey into the new world.

The teacher could bring to life this French drama by having the children simulate an interview of the accounts of their encounters with the Doutreleau children.

Extension for higher level children could read Charles Perault’s Tom Thumb and compare the two books.