A Child’s Heart: A Psychological Study

‘A Child’s Heart’ is a short story written by Herman Hesse concerning an eleven year old boy. As an account, in the first person, of the child’s emotions it provides an insight into child development.

The child, for reasons unknown to himself, stole dried figs from his father’s study on finding his father absent. There followed manifold expressions of guilt such as misery, remorse and resentment. Hesse describes his attitude toward his father as one of “reverence and rebellion” which “contested in my overladen heart.”