<doc.id=1003.a4>
 In this essay I will try to analyse Doris Lessing's The fifth child from the aspects of theme and setting. I will start by describing what I see as the main theme of the book and then discuss the three different aspect of setting: the location, the time and the social and moral environment and their significance for the theme.
 "Happiness. A happy family...It was what they had chosen and what they deserved" (28). I think that these sentences quite clearly describe what I see as the main theme of the book. The Lovatts believe that they can and will be happy just because they have chosen to be. In their determination to create a happy family they exploit their relatives and desperately try to ward off the terrifying world outside. Nevertheless, it makes its way into their life, in the shape of Ben, and destroys all that they have created. In the end of the book, Harriet says to David that they have been punished "For thinking we could be happy. Happy because we decided to be." (141) I believe that the theme of the book derives from their hopeless attempts to create happiness and from the fact that they try to do this by refusing to deal with problems. In my opinion, the main statement of the book is: 'You can't create happiness just because you have decided to, especially not by shutting out the world.' No family is an island; you are always depending on other people as well as the situation in society.
In order to create this happy home the Lovatts buy a big Victorian house in a small town outside London "with an atmosphere of its own" (13): This house and this town construct the geographical setting and is an important step on the way towards their goal; happiness. In this town they can seclude themselves from the world and create their own island of safety and joy. The house is a symbol of family life. It is large and has plenty of room for children and guests. As time passes the outside world is getting rougher but their house remains their safe spot. "The little town had changed...Brutal incidents and crimes...were now commonplace...the young Lovatts made themselves to read the papers and watch the News...At least they ought to know what happened outside their fortress, their kingdom...where so many people came to immerse themselves in safety, comfort, kindness" (30). When Ben is born their life change and the horrors, which used to exist only outside their fortress, begin to be a part of their every day life. The house still seems to be a "fortress" but instead of keeping out violence and unhappiness it is keeping out happiness and safety. The 'normal' children move out and no one comes to the holiday gatherings that ones were so popular. 
The changes the Lovatts go through are quite similar to the ones that are going on in society. The book starts in the "greedy and selfish" (29) sixties where Harriet and David are seen as oddballs because see family life as the core of happiness. The story ends in the violent 80's when the papers bristle with "news of muggings, hold-ups, break-ins" (147). This time span is important to the them
</doc>