Through the Eyes of Child Soldiers: On War, Violence and Trauma in Popular Entertainment Fictions by Benjamin Nickl

“…The status of the child solider is that of the reluctant combatant, and, according to UNICEF’s 2016 peace report, a sign of the rise of extreme violence around theworld.1 This paper uses a popular culture studies paradigm to highlight the damaging physical and emotional trauma of child soldier characters such as Melody Pond in Dr Who and Naruto Uzumaki in Naruto. From Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games to Dumbledore’s Army in Harry Potter, child soldiers who take up arms against the enemy triumph over evil warlords, insane despots and corrupt regimes. …”
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