English Literature

1. The Railway
Children
by Edith Nesbit
(1906)

2. About The Author
EDITH NESBIT

3.  Edith Nesbit was born on 15 August 1858 in
London, England.
 After the sudden death of her father, she lived in
various parts of the country and moved to France
and Germany, where Edith attended school.
 In 1871 the Nesbits settled at Halstead Hall in
Kent, England
 On 22 April 1880 Edith married Hubert Bland. After
Hubert died in 1914, Edith married Thomas Tucker.

4.  Some of Nesbit's additionalworks:
• The Prophet's Mantle (1885),
• Something Wrong (1886)
• The Story of the Treasure Seekers (1899)
• The Wouldbegoods (1901)
• The Red House (1902)
• Five Children and It (1902)
• The Phoenix and the Carpet (1904)
• The New Treasurer-Seekers (1904)
• The Amulet (1906)
• The Enchanted Castle (1907)
• The Magic World (1912)
• The Railway Children (1906) has inspired television and film adaptations.
• Edith Nesbit died on 4 May 1924 in England.

5. SYNOPSIS
Roberta, Peter and
Phyllis live with their
loving parents in the
comfortable house
London.
However, things change
when their father leaves
away with two
mysterious men on one
night.

6. Since then, the family has to
move to a little house at the
countryside, near a railway
line.

7. The children experience
various adventures.
First, they discover a heap of
coal at the station yard.
Peter takes some coal home
and stacks them at the back of
the house but he gets caught
by the station master.

8. The children also develop the
habit of waving to the train as it
goes by, that make them one
special friend, The Old
Gentleman.

9. The Old Gentleman eventually
helps them out when their
mother fell sick.

10. One day, when the landslide
covers the railway line, they
help to stop the train by
creating a red warning sign
using the girls’ red petticoat.

11. They even ask the villagers to give little gifts
for Perks for his birthday.
At first, Perks the porter becomes upset, but
finally he relent when the children explain
that the gifts are the symbols of respect from
them.

12. One day, Bobbie accidentally
reads an old newspaper given
by Perks. She is horrified when
she reads the newspaper
headline about her father’s
conviction.
Bobbie believes that he is
innocent and writes a letter to
The Old Gentlemen to ask for
help.

13. One day, they watch a ‘Hare and
Hounds’ game by some
schoolboys at the railway line.
The last ‘hound’ fails to appear
when the others leave the dark
tunnel. The children decide to
investigate.
They find Jim the hound
injured in the dark
tunnel and rescue him.

14. The children’s father
finally returns from London
and the family is reunited.

15. THE PLOT
Roberta, Peter and Phyllis live
with their loving parents in in the
comfortable house London.
However, things change when
their father leaves away with
two mysterious men on night.
Since then, the family has to
move to a little house at the
countryside, near a railway line.
The children experience various
adventures. First, they discover a heap
of coal at the station yard. Peter takes
some coal home and stacks them at the
back of the house but he gets caught by
the station master. The children also
develop the habit of waving to the train
as it goes by, that make them one
special friend; The Old Gentleman who
eventually helps them out when their
mother fell sick. One day, when the
landslide covers the railway line, they
help to stop the train by creating a red
warning sign using the girls’ red
petticoat. They even ask the villagers to
give little gifts for Perks for his birthday.
At first, Perks the porter becomes upset,
but finally her relent when the children
explain that the gifts are the symbols of
respect from them.
One day, Bobbie accidentally reads
an old newspaper given by Perks.
She is horrified when she reads the
newspaper headline about her
father’s conviction. Bobbie believes
that he is innocent and writes a letter
to The Old Gentlemen to ask forhelp.
The children continue with
their adventure. One day, they
watch a ‘Hare and Hounds’
game by some schoolboys at
the railway line. The last
‘hound’ fails to appear when
the others leave the dark
tunnel. The children decide to
investigate. They find Jim the
hound injured in the dark
tunnel and rescue him.
One day, the children’s
father finally returns from
London and the family is
reunited.
EXPOSITION
CLIMAX
RESOLUTION

16. CHARACTERS AND
CHARACTERISTICS

17. ROBERTA
PETER
PHYLLIS
MOTHER
OLD GENTLEMAN
PERKS
FATHER
MRS RANSOME
DR. FOREST
MRS VINEY

18. ROBERTA (BOBBIE)
A twelve years old girl.
 Twelve lighted candles on it, one for each
of Bobbie’s years. (p 22)
The eldest child in the family
 ....she was always called Bobbie, and was
the oldest.
(p 1)
Very persistent
 “The doctor said so. How can we get them
for her? Think, everybody, just as hard as
you can”. (p 17)
Caring
 “Someone had to stay with you,”
said Bobbie. “I must put out the candles
or it will burn itself out.” (p 49)

19. PETER
The second child and the only son
in the family.
 Next came Peter... (p 1)
Courageous
 “Perhaps he’s had an accident,” said Peter,
“Let’s go and look.” (p 46)
Adventurous
 “Where shall we go?” said Bobbie, although
she already knew the answer. “To the railway,
of course!” cried Peter. (p 9)
Innocent
 “I didn’t think it was stealing,” said Peter.
“There’s so much coal here. I took some from
the middle of the heap, and I I thought nobody
would mind. And Mother says we’re too
poor to have a fire...”. (p 14)

20. PHYLLIS
The youngest child in the family.
 And the youngest was Phyllis, who was
always trying to be good. (p 1)
Insecure
 There was a low noise on the railway line…
“Let me go back!”cried Phyllis. (p 47)
Naïve
 The boy in the red shirt was on
the ground, beside the line. His eyes
were closed and he did not
move when they reached him.“Is...he
dead?” asked Phyllis. (p 47)

21. MOTHER
Homely
 Mother was almost always at home, ready to
play with the children, or to read to them to
the children to them. (p 1)
Protective
 We have to play ‘being poor’ for a while. (p
4)
Practical
 “Then we can’t have any supper,”
said Phyllis, unhappily. “Yes, we can. We can
unpack one of the boxes. There’s some food
from the old house.” (p 7)
Resourceful
 Mother spent every day in her room, writing
stories. Sometimes she managed to sell a
story to a magazine, and then there were
cakes for tea. (p 12)

22. OLD GENTLEMAN
Friendly
 … And a hand waved back! It was
holding a newspaper and it
belonged to an old gentleman. (p
15)
Kind and helpful
 “When I read about your father in
the newspaper at the time, I began
trying to find out things.” (p 52)

23. PERKS
Hardworking
 “And other people said you were
kind and polite and hardworking.”
said Bobbie. (p 38)
Reasonable
 I –I won’t,” said Perks, quietly…I
take every word I said. I- I don’t know if
I were ever so pleased...not only with the
presents, but with the kind thoughts of
our neighbors’.” (pgs 38,39)
Responsible
 “I am pleased to give something to Mr.
Perks. He always pays his bills.” (p 38)

24. FATHER
A civil servant /
government
officer
 The children knew that
Father worked in a
Government office. (p
4)
Caring
 Of course there’s hope!
I’ll mend it on
Saturday (p 3)
Wrongly accused
• FIVE YEARS IN PRISON
FOR SPY! And the
name of the spy was
her father. (p 40)
MRS. RANSOME
Sensitive
 “It’s my birthday
tomorrow,” said old Mrs.
Ransome at the post
office. “Nobody
will remember
mine. Why should I give
anything to
Perks? Go away!” (p 35)
Generous
 “The Perks children will
like them. And I’ve got a
pram in the back of the
shop.” (p 36)
Appreciative
 “I want to thank you for
the roses.” She
said. (p 36)

25. MRS VINEY
A woman from the
village
 “Who’s she?” asked
Bobbie. “Awoman
from the village. I
asked her to clean the
place and make our
supper,” said Mother.
(p 6)
Responsible
 “There’s a letter from
Mrs. Viney,” explained
Mother. “Her son broke
his arm and she went
home early. She’s
coming again later this
morning.” (p 8)
DR FOREST
Hopeful
 “I expect you want to
be nurse,” Dr. Forest
said to Bobbie, after
he had seen the
mother. “Your mother
is ill and must stay in
bed…” (p 17)
Responsible
 I’ll send some
medicine for her,
but she will need fruit
and milk, and
some other special
things that I’ll write
down on a piece of
paper for you.” (p 17)

26. POINT OF VIEW
• The attitude or outlook of a narrator or character
in a piece of literature, a movie, or another art
form.
• The perspective from which the story is told.
• THE RAILWAY CHILDREN is told from the 3rd
person point of view. (narrator)

27. THANK YOU!