The book analyzed here can be divided into three distinctive sections, each focusing on a different subject. Through this division, the narrator tries to cover as many fields as possible and to give the children reading the book a complete education.
Firstly, the narrator discusses and analyzes the way in which a child should behave while in public. According to the narrator, a child, no matter how young, should always try to be stoic and to behave as adult-like as possible. For the narrator, this means staying quiet, not expressing one's feelings in public, and remaining physically clean at all times. The narrator doesn't believe that children should have the opportunity to be carefree and happy but that they should try and emulate as much as possible a grown-up attitude.
Next, the book approaches the subject of dealing with figures of authority. These figures are divided into two categories, parents and religious leaders, both having the same amount of power. The narrator does not believe that parents have the ultimate authority over their children and claims that priests should be granted the same power and influence since they are representing God himself.
The children are first urged to listen to their parents, the people who they are around every day. Children are told to never argue with their parents and to listen to them, no matter what happens. Parents are compared to Gods and through this comparison, the narrator wants to transmit the idea that their authority is complete.
One group is mentioned here and described as being above everyone when it comes to the authority they yield: religious leaders and clergymen with whom the children might interact. The narrator transmits the idea that both children and their parents should listen to religious leaders because they represent the voice of God.
Lastly, the narrator approaches the subject of education and how it must be different depending on the gender of the child being educated. This distinction is made because young girls and boys will have to fulfill different roles in their adulthood. As such, the narrator sees it as paramount that each gender should be educated while keeping this fact in mind.
Young boys are thought from a young age how to take important decisions and are also told that it is their purpose in life to be leaders. Women on the other hand are told that they must be submissive and be good mothers.
The Babees Book is an important and unique piece of literature because it can help modern readers understand how people thought during the time when the book was written. It also discusses how men and women were seen during those times and how society was constructed and organized.
