The fifth child door Doris Lessing

Summary:

Harriet and David met each other at an office party. Harriet is in the sales department of a firm that designs and supplies building materials and David is an architect. David had a girlfriend once, who was, according to him, very trashy. After they broke up she slept with a lot of men. Harriet is still a virgin and all of her sisters laugh about that. Harriet doesn't have a problem with this, she isn't the kind of girl that sleeps around with everyone she knows.

Everyone was dancing at the office party, except for these two people. They noticed each other and find out they both dislike the party. As their eyes had met, they walked towards to each other and hand in hand they walked out of all the noisy rooms and find an office. And they know they are made for each other. They talk and then they go to David's apartment. After a little while, she moves into his apartment and they decide to marry in spring.
They weren't sure if London was what they wanted, so they moved away. They found a house, a large one in a small village. It was a house with three floors and an attic.
They planned to have six children, but they couldn't tell that to anyone, for they didn't have that much money.

One afternoon, Harriet, David, Molly (David's mother) and Frederick (Molly's second husband) were standing in the new house. And Frederick and Molly asked if they were planing to run a hotel and have children. David agreed to the last one (have children). Then they go out to dinner, the four of them. Over that meal Molly asks him if he realizes that he has to ask his real father to help. He doesn't like that.
After all this, she phoned James, her ex-husband, that he'd better come over and see it for himself. Soon after that James and his girlfriend Jessica came over. Jessica had the same age as Molly, but looked twenty years younger.
Harriet's mother, Dorothy, comes by and after she heard that they planned to have six children, she thinks that's absurd.

The first child is borne; Luke. An easy baby. That Easter was the first of the family-parties. Short after that the second baby is borne; Helen. And two years after that Jane is borne (this is in 1970). They all move a room.
Paul, the fourth child, is born 3 years after Jane, in 1973, between Easter and Christmas. That Easter was the best ever, and family came over to celebrate and to look at the children of course. The house is very crowded. Harriet was very stressed though. She hadn't slept well. They talk about how many children they want, and Harriet says that she and David are going to take a rest for three years or so.

That summer was the same as all other summers; family in, family out. Even before Christmas 1973, Harriet is pregnant again, despite they were very careful. David tried to joke: "It's this room, I swear it's a baby-maker."
They had put off telling Dorothy. Harriet's sister Sarah said it wasn't fair Harriet got all the help. So one after another three girls came in to help. They just left school and they weren't very good. Harriet's very depressed and now realizes how much she needs Dorothy. But Dorothy isn't there to help, because she doesn't know Harriet's pregnant again. But if she would know, she would be angry, and she would be right.

Harriet wants it to be Christmas again, so that family can come over and help her. Then Dorothy calls to say that Harriet and Sarah have to manage, because she needed a break. Harriet cried, and so Dorothy decided to stay and help her. She came over and they talked. Harriet was very upset about everything.

When Harriet was in bed, she asks David to feel at her stomach. He felt a hard movement, and she was nearly three months pregnant!
She went to see a doctor, Dr. Brett, and he told her that she had to take it easy. When people arrived for Christmas, they were all very pleased to hear about the pregnancy.
Harriet was looking for a nanny to help Dorothy, but she couldn't find one. Instead a cousin of Frederick's, Alice, came to help. Things were very difficult for Harriet. She had a lot of pain, and to forget the pain she often went for an unusual walk. She walked very long and very hard. At night she lay awake, because of the pain.

Nearly a month too early, the pains begin. Dorothy rang David in London and took Harriet to a hospital. She had more pain than ever before, the baby seemed to fight his way out. The baby-boy was eleven pounds, unlike the other who were 7 pounds. He was yellowish, muscular, long, he wasn't pretty and he didn't look like a baby at all. They were going to call him Ben.
After a little while she had to give him a bottle, because he drunk all of her milk in two minutes and her breasts hurt very much.
Family came over for the summer holidays. Harriet came into the kitchen one day and heard her sister Sarah say to a cousin that Ben gave her the creeps, and that he's like a goblin or a dwarf.

After the family had left, something bad happened. Paul went into Ben's room by himself, and Dorothy and Alice heard screams. Ben had grabbed Paul's arm and twisted it. Ben, who's nearly six months old, was going to destroy the family life. On another morning she went to his room and she saw him balancing on the windowsill.
That Christmas, when family came over, he stayed upstairs.

In the summer of 1975 there were fewer guests. They all had an excuse not to come. At the end of the summer holidays someone came bringing a dog, and Ben couldn't leave it alone. One day Harriet saw the dog lying dead on the floor. Now she was sick with suspicious. The vet said that it was struggled. Three months later the same thing happened with the cat. After this Dorothy looked after Ben so that the others could go on a holiday. When they got back Dorothy suggested that Ben had to go to an institution. They didn't do that.
At Christmas Harriet rang up people to say that Ben was much calmer these days. Sarah asked her if it was okay to bring Amy, her child with a Down syndrome. Amy was very scared of Ben.
One day, he talked and he said; "I want cake." From then on he announced his needs. He watched Luke and Helen a lot to copy them.

Then they got another dog, a larger one. The dog is very kind and caring to Amy. They decide that Ben has to go to an institution.  A car picks up Ben and they bring him to the North of England. Everyone is happy now, except for Harriet. She takes him back home. Ben gets a new friend; John. John and Ben can get along very well.
After a while Luke and Helen move out and go to their grandma's, because that's best for them. After that Jane moves away too. Paul doesn't, he stays at home. But he doesn't get much attention, because Ben takes it all. So things aren't going well with him, and that why he has to go to a psychiatrist. Ben and Paul hated each other. Once Harriet saw how Ben tried to reach to Paul's throat, trying to kill him.
Three years before Ben was due to leave school where he learned nothing, John came to say that he was going to leave them. Ben is very upset and mad.

In September of 1986 Ben became eleven, and went to high school. Some weeks after that he brought home a large boy, Derek. He was fifteen. They ignored her. Things were going bad with Ben. He was in a gang, and they came over a lot. But they also stayed away for long times. And David and Harriet decided to move, as soon as Ben was away doing stuff.

Theme(s):

The theme is love in a sort of way. Harriet thought no one loved Ben, including herself, but as you read the story you can see that she does love him, despite her thoughts about him. For example she took Ben away from the institution, because she couldn't see him like that.

Background:

The story begins in the sixties. It's mainly situated in the Lovat's house.

Characters:

Ben: He looks like a goblin and wasn't pretty at all when he was born. He is the youngest son of David and Harriet. He is very strong for his age. He can only show people anger and fear and there's absolutely no loving look. He's like a problem child to most of the people and he can be very dangerous.  
Harriet Lovat: She works in the sales department designing firm. She is being very good as a mother, but when Ben comes, the other kids don't get much attention. She feels that she's the only one who cares a little for Ben.
David Lovat: He works as an architect and his parents got divorced when he was little. He can't understand Harriet that she want Ben back in the house. He has to work very hard to earn a living.
The other kids: Luke, as a baby he was baby easy, Helen, Jane and Paul. Paul got injured because of Ben when he was little.

Personal Opinion:

It wasn't very easy to read a book all by yourself, but I'm glad my book had a word list in it!
I find 'The Fifth Child' a very strange and mysterious story, because the child was so different then normal kids. It was a beautiful story though. I think that the caring that Harriet showed is very loving. You can see real mother-love here. Although the baby was ugly, different and conflicting she still showed him some care.
What I think that's strange is that Doris Lessing gives very less description of the birth and life of the other kids. Maybe it isn't thát strange, but I think she could have written some more about these children too, since they are in the story too.