David and Harriet met with each other in a party and fell in love after the party。 As is told above, David and Harriet came from family with different backgrounds。 David is a man who is unlike his father James but similar to Frederick and his mother Molly, is looking forward to freedom。 He insisted that everyone should have his own room。 He is a conservative but dreamy man。 Also, Harriet, like her mother, was a conventional woman in the time when woman were running for liberation。 She was still simply-dressed。 They represented for traditional values。文献综述

     As for The Fifth Child Ben，he was not well behaved in her mother’s uterus and always upset his parents。 He was considered as a monster after he was born。 For everyone but Harriet，he was unwelcome in the family。

     Nowadays, as the society pays more attention to children’ physical and mental health, especially to those who have disabilities when they are born, it is necessary to  raise people’s awareness to help and treat those children in a correct way。 The Fifth Child is just a book to describe an uncommon boy who suffered unfair treatment because of  his “difference”。 With the analysis of the reasons that cause the miserable fate of Ben, children’s inner world can be understood。 

2。 Literature Review

     Doris lessing, a contemporary writer, is a very excellent female writer in the world, many researchers and scholars have spent much time studying Lessing’s works from different angles while at the same time, some less popular works such as The Fifth Child, seldom arouse people’s interest。

     Studies on her novel The Fifth Child abroad are mainly concerned with its narratives, feminism, Gothic elements and so on。 Some scholars thought it is a “family horror fiction” (Rowen 41)。 Jane Pickering, a very well-known critic, thought that The Fifth Child “stands in dialogic relationship with all of Lessing’s works concerned with physical and spiritual evolution。。。its nightmare also contains regressive children。” (Pickering 191)