Vincent Can’t Go is a classic take on the parent-child yes-no conflict. Vincent has just turned eight and now thinks himself to be grown up enough to take his own life decisions. His plans to be the master of his own wishes are thwarted as his father moves overseas for some work. It seems as if the key to Vincent’s free will was taken away by his father. His mother is a nurse who often works night shifts and cannot seem to manage between the responsibilities of the house and her son’s wishes.
Conflict arises when Vincent has to go to his best friend’s birthday party. He devises multiple tricks so that his mother notices his itch to go. An interesting take occurs when Vincent, after having decided that he would gift roller skates to his best friend, tries to make his mother notice the requirement for the same. He writes the same in their grocery list, hoping for her to notice. There are a total of ten chapters before Vincent actually gets the way out. He suffers from a peculiar itch till he gets the solution to his problem. He tries to run away from his best friend unless he is sure that he will in fact go to the party. In the end, Vincent finally gets to go, with the assistance of his best friend and his own mother.
Vincent makes it evident that his freedom is uncompromisable. He is an eight-year-old fighting for autonomy in the world of adults who decide what is right and wrong. It also highlights a forgotten era where children in fact, were left alone to explore and find their way. The mother is shown as someone who is overprotective of her child in the absence of her husband. She tends to overlook her son’s needs amidst so many of her household chores. Yet, the case is clear. The freedom and the agency to provide it lies with the father. The book does feed on the narrative that fathers let their children breathe much more than mothers do. It also highlights a tired mother, who juggles between an overarching household and a growing child with needs of autonomy.
The illustrations do justice to the narrative. Whenever Vincent gets an itch, the illustrations provide a symbolic insight into his mind. The drawings are done in pencil sketch, mirroring Vincent’s desire for a solution as soon as possible. Habib Ali artfully describes the predicament of an eight-year-old and captures his eventful world.
The fierce emphasis on how Vincent has in fact grown up enough to travel alone at night and return home by himself, is the driver of the tale. In a world where children’s problems and their perspective cease to exist, Vincent Can’t Go serves as a reminder of how children’s problems deserve equal attention. It provides an inverted lens into Vincent’s life, making his problems as important, and at times, more important than his mother’s. Mariyam Fatima rightly captures the mind of an eight-year-old with the simplistic aspirations of going to his best friend’s birthday party.