Middle school is a time of questioning. Moral questions present themselves with urgency: "Why is there so much injustice in the world?" "What are good and evil?" "Who am I in relationto the universe?" "How and whom will I love?" "What do I want to be like?" Great literature lends itselfsuperbly to character education in middle school, for it raises-and sometimes answers-these very questions.

Reading great literature can engage and develop moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action. Often the conscious intent of the author was to stimulate moral reasoning. Literature also arouses emotion because of the reader's involvement with the characters and the vicissitudes of their lives. Finally, a good story is a vicarious experience that can influence the students' actual choices and actions in life.

In my opinion, contemporary Young Adult literature, so widely used, does not develop these dimensions of character as well as the classics do. In many Young Adult offerings, one or both of the parents are out of the picture due to dysfunction, drug abuse, divorce, or desertion. The young people in these books cope as best they can. Other "YA" books deal with drug use, gangs, violence, and sex.

Educators Suzanne Reid and Sharon Stringer raise questions about the psychological impact of YA literature: "Young people hear so much about disastrous behavior that they may begin to consider the abuse of drugs, sex, or personal boundaries as normal: 'Everybody goes through this' becomes the mantra. What about focusing young people's attention on heroic ideals and the communal values of literature traditionally taught in schools? Would we be fostering a better future by encouraging a recommitment to these ideals rather than exposing children to knowledge that might lead to disillusionment or despair?"

Advantages of the Classics
Of course, children in classic literature had their problems too. Huck Finn is the abused child of an alcoholic father. His mother is missing or dead. Jim Hawkins of Treasure Island takes off to sea after the death of his father and the terrorizing of his mother by pirates. Oliver Twist is an abandoned orphan. The difference, however, is that these characters resolve their problems through the moral choices they make. They do not merely cope; they conquer adversity through good character.

Huck Finn is a cheerful liar most of the time-except he will not lie to himself. All his selfprotective fibs do not take away
from the fact that on that raft Huck confronts the truth about racism, slavery, and the relationship between man and man with honesty and courage. His moral choice to work for slave Jim's freedom is pivotal to the resolution of the story. Jim Hawkins saves the day through bravery and loyalty exceeding his years. Oliver Twist propels himself out of his situation through his virtues. Twist wants nothing to do with the Artful Dodger once he knows that he is a thief, and there is nothing charming about Fagin's gang of thieves. If any readers might be considering a life of crime in answer to a difficult family situation, the literary
ends of Nancy, Bill Sikes, and Fagin should give them great pause.

The key message of these books is that character is destiny, even when fate has dealt a person a bad hand. This message is well worth applying to the less desperate situations most children face, and especially to the more serious ones that they encounter.

In my experience, middle school children can respond positively to classic literature and find it relevant to their lives, especially if it is given a character education focus. I designed a classics-based, character-conscious language arts program at my school to correlate with social studies. We were to read fine literature by, or about, famous people or legends from the time periods they were studying: the Dark and Middle Ages.

Let me say that I nearly junked the whole program mid-year, full of despair. Getting children to read good books, let alone comprehend and appreciate them, is an uphill battle. Part of the appeal of the YA literature genre is that the language is very accessible. The books engage the children easily, whereas the classics do not.
It takes special selection to find kid-friendly classics.

Beginning with "Beowulf"
We started out with "Beowulf" and the concept of a hero, which they really enjoyed. We then progressed to King Arthur, the story of Guenevere and Lancelot, the code of chivalry, and some explorations of purity as depicted in Tennyson's shimmering "Sir Galahad." They liked that less. We read A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, most of which, I am sorry to say, they did not seem to understand-not even the jokes. The children acted out "Saint George and the Dragon" with their own homemade props, which they enjoyed doing, and they also designed vignettes around some cleanedup, age-appropriate Canterbury Tales dealing with relationships. Tolkien's translation of Sir Orfeo was food for thought about loyalty, marriage, and love.

We went on to historical figures like Joan of Arc and Sir Thomas More, whose lives had moral lessons to teach and who have generated literature, plays, and movies reaching into our own time. About mid-year, though, they were beginning to complain, "Why do we have to know about all this old stuff and these old people anyway?" I opted to compromise on the historical element and move on to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. The Middle Earth of Tolkien's imaginary world is full of dragons, armor, swords, shields, honor, and mythical creatures. It's beautifully written, vocabulary-rich, and chock-full of character material.

We read Fellowship in its entirety aloud in class. We paused on such things as Gandalf's pity and mercy speech to Frodo; they wrote reflective essays on that. Frodo cries out to the great wizard Gandalf that it is a pity his uncle didn't kill troublesome Gollum long ago. Gandalf replies: "Pity? It was pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and mercy, not to strike without need . . . Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." These few lines in Fellowship open up profound avenues of thought that reach back deeply into the Western moral tradition.

We traced out Sam's growth from servant to bosom companion through his attitude of selfless service to Frodo. We talked about friendship. We talked about loyalty. We talked about courage in the face of overwhelming peril and perseverance in the face of despair.

Though it was a long and hard road, by the end, students were openly thankful that they had encountered the book. Here, in their words, are some of the moral lessons they had gleaned:
"You should never judge a person by his or her looks."
"I learned that to have a really good friend like Sam, you have to be loyal yourself."
"This book taught me that even little people, or one person, can destroy evil."

They also looked at the movie, "The Lord of the Rings," differently after having experienced the book. Some said the book made them feel as if they were in the adventure, much more so than the movie. They were indignant that some of the most enchanting parts of the book were left out of the movie or were, in their opinion, poorly done. They had taken a step toward media literacy-a crucial character education skill.

Discovering the Universals of Human Existence
I believe that classic literature and character education go together like the proverbial horse and carriage.
Literature needs the character educator to interpret, direct, and sometimes challenge its teachings. Character educators need literature to provide rich material for discussion. Teachers can help students analyze characters'
lives and choices and discuss issues of consequences and meaning, yet be several steps removed from personal discussions
that may embarrass the students and cause them to withdraw. Further, both classic literature and character education rest on the same premise: There are universals in human existence that are important to discover in order to live better and more meaningful lives.

Great books show students that generations before them have grappled with good and evil.

In the movie "Shadowlands," C. S. Lewis's character said: "We read to know we are not alone." Advocates of YA literature say that it helps students feel they are not alone in their struggles, not marked as different or unacceptable because of the private problems they face. I submit that great literature performs this function in a far more effective way. Great books show students that generations before them have grappled with light and darkness, despair and faith, good and evil, courage and cowardice, love and hate, and the finding of one's self on a journey toward something else. These are the great concerns of human existence.

To know that others have faced them and left some markers along the way brings children into a transcendentsense of human belonging where they truly know they are not alone.

June Saunders, co-author of Cultivating Heart and
Character: Educating for Life's Most Essential Goals
(order at www.charactereducation.com)