In the short story collection Summer Lightning by Olive...

The childs eye view is not childlike. It is a clear vision through which the irrationalities of adults [and] the inequities in society ... are expressed. Olive Senior, in her collection of short stories Summer Lightning, uses child protagonists to highlight and criticize many aspects of the society they are raised in, and the destructive quality these have on the innocent world of the child. In Love Orange, Senior uses symbolism to highlight the tragedy of the loss of childhood innocence due to the experiences and harsh reality of the adult world. This story shows a child so influenced by the intrusion of the world outside of childhood, that the reality and seriousness of adult concerns such as death and old age, along with a severe†¦show more content†¦The failure of the child to grasp the irrational concerns of the adult world causes him to constantly fear his fathers irrational behaviour towards him. This feeling of intimidation is seen as early as page 85 where the narrator states the boy wasnt sure why his father was sometimes so irritable towards him, and [he] lived in a constant state of suspense over what his fathers response to him was likely to be. Thus, this led to the notion of ice cream... [becoming] the one bright constant in a world full of changeable adults (p.86). The third person omniscient narrator used by Senior is elemental in describing the psychological and emotional state of the child, providing the reader with a clear understanding of the childs pain and it influences a sensitive reaction to his intense frustration due to the deferment of his hopes and expectations. Also very critical in Olive Seniors style of writing in this story, is her ability to capture the childs anxiety, fears, increased hope, and then ultimate disappointment in the use of language. The devastation felt by the child as his ice cream drops is documented through the unpunctuated and highly subjective narrative which illustrates the