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MargaV schreef:

In Little Johnny's Final Letter to his Mother the boy confesses to his mother that he has left the city to get himself 'classified', to make a decision about his future. Patten presents the theme of a boy's alienation from home because of the fact that he is a juvenile delinquent. This poem is sad and moving, but it also reflects the optimism and self-reliance of young people in the years of increasing wealth and freedom. It is evident in Little Johnny's poems that it is domestic disharmony rather than the world outside that emerges as the most powerful destroyer of childhood.