The Railway Children

What makes us happy?

In class we watched the 1970s film of 'The Railway Children'.  This is based on the classic novel by E Nesbitt written in 1905.  It tells the story of three children whose lives are torn apart when their Father is wrongly accused of a crime.  They are very wealthy but become poor.  They move from a big house in London, where they have expensive toys and servants, to a tiny cottage in the countryside.

At first they find their change in circumstances difficult but they learn to be happy without the material wealth they had in London.  They are very interested in the local railway and become friends with the railway porter.  They are much more closely connected to the real world and to ordinary people.  They start to do good deeds and to help others and find happiness in a simpler lifestyle.  However, life is not easy though as they don't always have enough food or heating in their cottage.

The children with the railway porter

In the end, there is a happy reunion as their Father is proved innocent and released from prison.

We talked about how their lives were at the beginning of the novel and how their lives changed.  We asked the question 'were they happier in London or in the countryside?'.

Most of the class thinks that the railway children's lives were better and happier in the countryside because:

• they did better things;
• they helped people;
• they made friends and got involved with other people; and
• their lives were more real.