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<title> OUR NEED FOR SAFETY </title>
One of the important themes in The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing is our need for safety. In this essay I will discuss what methods Lessing uses to reveal the impression of safety, and how easily it can be shattered. I will also reflect on how the theme is turned into a moral criticism of today's society with its almost non-existing family values. I will also take up the importance of the setting in this theme, and how they both agree and conflict with each other.
	 Safety is one of the most basic human needs. Safety can represent different things for different people, but being a part of a family or some other social group is a need we all share. For David, the father in the book, this need is even stronger than it is with others; he had an unstable and rather unhappy childhood due to a split family and he is obsessed with his conviction that "for his own children it would be all different". [12] In contrast to her husband, Harriet's childhood was safe and happy because "Harriet's parents had taken it for granted that family life was the basis for a happy one." [12] Joined in love and sharing the same wants and needs, David and Harriet create their own, safe "fortress" and "kingdom", shutting the outside world out.
	 "Outside this fortunate place, their family, beat and battered the storms of the world." [29] David, Harriet and their four children live happily in their big house, "their fortress", while the world outside gets crueler and more violent for every year. The image of their house being a safe fortress is strengthened by Doris Lessing's descriptions of "warm, thick, flowered curtains" [21] that are drawn and remarks like "this was the house[...]where television was not often watched". [32] They are unwilling to let the cruel reality of the world into their house, and their closest relatives love to come to visit "to immerse themselves in safety, comfort, kindness". [30] This feeling of safety is shattered when Ben, the fifth child, is born, and the outside world is let in to their kingdom.
	 When Ben is born, there is a stain on the perfection and the fear that before was kept out is now inside their house and minds. They are all afraid of Ben, who looks and acts differently, and soon they all regard the new baby as an enemy. An interesting parallel can be drawn to this and to the description Doris Lessing gives of the outside world with it's increasing violence. "There was an ugly edge on events: more and more it seemed that two peoples lived in England, not one - enemies, hating each other, who could not hear what the other said". [30] Now the outside world is inside their house, their fortress, and the enemy, born to be an outsider, is Ben. Safety is no longer present.
	 The setting of the book strengthens the theme of safety. The story takes place in a calm, smallish town outside London, in a big house full of happiness. As the story progresses, the setting changes with it. The formerly calm town becomes more and more unsafe and when Ben is born, the safe feeling is no longer present in the house; the children even start locking their doors at night in fear of Ben. The fact that the setting supports and reflects the theme in this way gives the story a stronger foundation to stand on. 
	 The setting does not only reflect the theme, though. In fact, they also conflict, especially in the beginning of the book. The setting of the sixties is at odds with the theme of people's need for safety, because the sixties were not a safe decade. On the contrary, it was rather unsafe with plenty of unprotected sex, drugs and rock'n'roll; family life was out. Davis and Harriet do not belong to the decade, they are considered as "oddballs" and hold traditional values towards sex, marriage and family life. This contrast and conflict gives the story a deeper dimension and, to my mind, makes it more interesting. 
	 The theme of our need for safety is shaped into a moral criticism of today's society full of split families and fear for what is different. Lessing clearly points out the importance of a safe childhood, not only for the sake of our personal happiness, but also for the safety of our society. The setting of the book is used to strengthen this moral and to display how a safe family life reflects directly on society; as the number of split families increases, the safety of our society decreases. Lessing also points out the fact that the basic need for safety can never be obtained as long as we are afraid of what is different and alien.
	 The setting certainly plays an important role in The Fifth Child. The illustration of a big, safe house in a calm, smallish town supports the image of safety, and as the story progresses, the theme develops together with the setting. The contrast of the setting of the sixties and the theme of safety personified by David and Harriet, makes the story more interesting. Doris Lessing is definitely an able set designer, and she skillfully uses the setting to intensify the story.
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