How Green Was My Valley

            I think the central issues in How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn are a vast variety. Some are very prominent, and some are a little subtler. Some could’ve had only occurred in Wales in the 1860s, and some are still common in this day and age. One of the main issues I could identify was the main character, Huw Morgan’s, constant struggle with his family relationships, and with being the youngest child in a family of many, many children. Another issue was the over hanging idea of the disruption of the beautiful valley where Huw’s village is. I think that among other issues these ones are very important to the plot of How Green Was My Valley.

            In the book, Huw is the “baby” of about 6 other children. Also, he is younger by 6 years. As a child in the Morgan house, this gives him a different kind of role in the family. As each son in the family gets older, they gradually begin to join their father in the coal mining business. Huw, however watches each one leave, well aware that it wont be a while until he has to join. This definitely affects how the rest of the family treats him, for example, when three of his brothers and one of his sisters move out of the house in a result of a disagreement with their parents, Huw’s father says, “The only boys I’ve got, my girl, are twenty-three years of age and six. That is Ivor and Huw.” Even though he has more than four other sons, he is only counting the ones who didn’t disobey him. I don’t think Huw would be one of his father’s “sons” if he was the youngest. He’d probably go along with his other siblings. This central issue of being the youngest definitely affects Huw’s relationships and the plot of the book.

            Another central issue in the book is the valley in Huw’s village being over run by British and polluted. Although it is much more subtle, it definitely affects the plot. As the price for coal drops, so does the salary of coal miner’s, like Huw’s three brothers and father. When Huw asks his father about it, his father says, “the British will never understand our way of life, they’re business is an ugly one.” As the story unfolds, so does the valley. Because the setting is being changed, so is the plot of the story.

            In the book, central issues affect the plot. From the fact that Huw is the youngest, to the threatened valley he lives in, central issues range in type. I think that if the central issues were removed, the whole plot would be altered. Also, the character would be different, and maybe even the genre of book.