Sissy vs. Little Lord Fauntleroy

We have learned a few general things about good American boys from our readings. We know that they work hard, that they often get dirty, that they are smart and that they lean towards an independence in their personalities most of the time, which we do not see in their female counterparts. We also know that most of the time religious overtones are absent and that ambition is always prevalent in stories when boys are in the main character role. One of the main purposes of a boy working hard and earning money, is to one day become a man and work hard and hopefully make more money, enough for a family. I think it is also important to note that boys are allowed imperfections. We know that both Ragged Dick and Tom Sawyer get dirty and tell little lies. The most clear unifying factor of all the stories we have read though is that all the boys in these stories have ambition.

When we compare Cedric from Little Lord Fauntleroy to Sissy we see some stark differences. I feel as though Sissy, though good at girl and woman like things like sewing and picking out the perfect color ribbon to match someones eyes (p. 547 and 548) is still described as a young boy- distinctly masculine. The scene where he washes Margie shows his brute strength even for a youngster. As well as the scene when he finally finds her again and hugs her, "Stop Willie; you love me too hard." (p. 559) Another factor is his infatuation with Margie, I would interpret this as his first crush, that is first and most innocent love.

Cedric wins people over with his brilliance and charm. He is able to give people a real comfort but as far as being able to do a woman's work, or even a mans work like Ragged Dick had to do, he is not accustomed to it. Also, the beauty that we see in Cedric we typically only see in girls. We might find many a handsome boy, but it seems like the beauty as well as gentleness is easily seen with Cedric. "She was proud of his graceful, strong little body and his pretty little manners..." (p.448) I think calling a man beautiful or a boy could be a very worthy adjective, but when the word pretty starts to be used we move away from the idea that the same person can be tough in a real 19th century style. Personally if I had to hang with one of these guy's I'd choose Sissy because he seems way more down to earth.

The Luck of Roaring Camp

At the very beginning of the semester after reading The Wide Wide World I was pretty certain that it was arguably the saddest part of a book I ever read. Well, The Luck of Roaring Camp beat it in that case. I found this story especially tragic because the story was giving the readers hope and optimism about the uncertainty of life, a feeling that 'everything will be okay' however the last paragraph of the story ripped that feeling away almost viciously.

We are introduced to this group of ragged men who it seems became out of touch with the true beauty in life. It said specifically in the text on page 532 "they didn't want and more of the other kind" referring to women. If we keep in mind an idea that women tend to see the beauty in life and these men have been without women for sometime that therefore, these men have lost all care for beauty. It is only when they see the new perfect child with 10 fingers and toes that it occurs to them to find nice things for the baby. Upon finding these little nice natural objects like the beauty in flowers or an especially nice day, it changes their perspective and finally they can see an appreciate the little things in life the way all people have at one time or another.

The only possible hope is that these men move on (which they probably will since they have all lived such hard lives anyway) from the death of there communal son, and continue to see the good in the world and the beauty.

Reading Habits!

When I read an excerpt from a novel, it is very fun to try and pick up on the very subtle clues the author puts in the story. The development of the characters happens over a longer period of time so I feel that when a major shift in there life happens we can feel extra happy or in some cases very bad for them. In other words, it is almost as if we can empathize with the characters whenever they are developed over a long period of time.

Short stories take symbolism and use it to its fullest I think. By the time we are done reading a short story we spend more time trying to figure out what it meant than we do for a novel or a part of novel. There are more questions that come about in short stories, fundamental, basic questions like "has the narrator been dead this whole time?" or "who were Desiree's parents/ why was she purposely left behind?"

I think good short stories usually make us ask ourselves more questions than provide answers. It also seems to me, a novel provides a few answers to various problems in life, showing how particular characters overcome or at least deal with them. For example in both The Lamplighterand The Wide Wide World the authors both spent a great deal of time developing the father and mother figures to the readers, respectively. In particular we can see that the bible scene in The Wide Wide World takes roughly six pages. Keeping this in mind if we compare it to Desiree's Baby with a total length of five pages, and the types of questions we had to ask ourselves when we were done reading both, we can really understand the different ways each make us think.

Little Lord Fauntleroy

Well! I think an easy way to write off why men used women's pen names and vice versa is that they were simply jealous of each other. Or rather, each other's audience. I would think the authors gender matters to some of this time period because of social dictations. Men were to act manly, and read manly things, written by men and the same can be said for women. If woman writer wanted to write a novel, it would most likely have been easier to do it under a man's name. Also, if a man wanted to right a more sensitive story, he might use a woman's name.

One example that I can think if is on pages 340 and 341. The author describes this youth as being beautiful. A typical male writer would probably see his strength or wit before his beauty. It is the descriptions of the young Cedie, that made me suspicious of the writers sex in the first place.

What difference does it make then? I think the biggest difference is that people make assumptions about what might happen in the story, the details mentioned and not mentioned, and most importantly the overall message of the story. I have found as a very general rule that woman writers tend to be more sympathetic to the characters of a story. I also like to believe they kind find the beauty in everyday life more often. Instances that we can't tell whether the author is male or female I think are very special too. In these cases we can only judge the words that that author wrote. In these cases we might pay more attention to the overall message of the story.

Tom Sawyer

I can't help but feel an attraction to the chapter in Tom Sawyer entitled "Busy at War and Love". This whole chapter makes me think of a few things. First the common saying "all is fair in love and war" which is fairly obvious, because Tom is so good at playing with his aunts emotions. This ties in to another not as common saying derived from the first that refers to any relationship as "the battle of who can care less".

On page 419 we see Tom helpless to his boyish crush on "a new girl". Just a week ago we see him as the happiest boy in the world, in love, with another girl. The word fickle comes quick to mind. However, we see that the new girl still has most of the power in their non existent relationship. I attribute it to the fact that she basically cares less. I like how Mark Twain is able to play out simple interactions between Tom and various characters that actually represent the same idea that we experience in adulthood.

We can see how Tom can use his aunts emotions against her on page 421. She gives him a belt for something he is wrongly accused of. She feels guilt Tom knows this, and uses it for what it's worth, just a little bit more power in the relationship. His aunt cares for him very much so, she has less power.

I feel that there couldn't be a more perfect title for this chapter. It's central themes of how all is fair in love and war are expressed through Tom. He is powerless towards the girl he is captivated with and, holds a lot of clout when it comes to his aunt. There is even a scene in which Tom even plays the role of a general in a mock battle with a friend in which they arrange the next time the will have a dispute and, what it will be about. It's difficult as an adult to navigate one's way through different relationships, perhaps Tom is a prime example of what not to be like for children. Just a few thoughts, enjoy!

Ragged Dick

In class, we discussed the stark contrast between typical behavior, manorisms, and allowances for girls and boys during this time. Girls were expected to excel in domestic capacities including, sewing, cooking, cleaning, and generally maintaining the household. No fits or bouts of extreme emotional distress were part of what young girls were supposed to do, because they were supposed to be pleasant at all times. Also, we see that girls need "props" in order to be young ladies. These include a number of things from elaborate dresses and shoes, to writing materials and sewing kits (this took up pages 42 -49 from the text.) I feel as though Susan Warner's, The Wide Wide World is the most extreme example of what it was to be an almost ideal girl of the time. However in many respects, this makes her uninteresting, because she is an ideal, and therefore not easily related to by a large audience. And then there was Capitola, who definitely won me over with her charm and wit. She is a girl however (as is decided in New York) and therefore must have things for a girl of her class and so on page 181. After reading Ragged Dick however we can see right away that boys are allowed more faults than girls. I feel we can assume that this also means men were allowed more faults than women as long as the family was taken care of financially and as long as he wasn't a drunkard. What's more it seems to me as though they aren't considered faults as much as they are traits for men and boys, rather aspects of personality. Men were expected to work hard, be smart, and make enough money not just to take care of themselves but their families too. Women on the other hand didn't go out nearly as much since most of their work was at home.

These young boys in Ragged Dick have faults, and the author is very quick to point them out, yet, he is also clear in pointing out the good aspects of these boy's personalities. This is a rhetorical strategy that appeals to the audience because Dick isn't perfect, just like the average reader. However, he did have some very strong morals when it came to certain issues so readers of this story might be encouraged to still hold fast to certain morals that the text is trying to reaffirm to the audience. This is clearly seen when Dick says at the start of the story, "You don't catch me stealin', if that's what you mean." (p.334) I think the text is trying to say through these characters, that every person has faults, some more series than others, but it is possible to find 'good' even in the oddest of places.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

This is a very conflicting story, I know that it is said that this story brought the country to its knees. I believe it is for three reasons, first the close attachment between most of the main characters in the story and God, it appears most of the characters rely on God as a source of hope and strength this is similar to The Wide Wide World's early chapters certainly. Also embedded in this story is the idea that good, Christian Americans would be opposed to slavery, just as much as they would be opposed to the treatment of anything in a cruel way for a example, stoning a kitten. In this example we see questions and gaps of this society that was supposed to be of the highest morals. Finally the attachment between a mother trying to protect her innocent child is something that is universal, every woman can imagine protecting her child, it's instinctual to a large degree, and everyone who read this book was once a child so the strength of this relationship can be understood by a large audience.

Mrs. Bird, the wife of a senator with morals but who helped pass the run away salve act of 1850, is a woman of very small stature, and who is very passive in most instances, and often will convince her husband and children rather than order them. She is seen as very sweet and meager one scene on page 275 illustrates well the idea that though she is not one to get into conflict she will not hesitate when there is an innocent creature being treated cruelly. Here, in this instances of oppression of a kitten, by little boys. "I'll tell you what," Master bill used to say, :i was scared that time. Mother came at me so that I thought she was a crazy, and I was whipped, and tumbled off to bed, without any supper, before I could get over wondering what had come about; and after that I heard mother crying outside the door, which made me feel worse than all the rest..." this I feel, is an important part of the story because it makes people question themselves. If being cruel to a kitten is wrong, is being cruel by owning a slave wrong too?

On page 273 we see senator Bird come home and of course the chaos that is in all houses with lots of children, "Tom, let the door-knob alone,--there's a man! Mary! Mary! Don't pull the cat's tail,-- poor pussy! Jim you musn't climb the table,-no, no!-you don't know what a surprise it is to see you here tonight! said she, at last, when she found a chance to say something to her husband." Here we have the nice little family, doing well in life, full of love, and when juxtaposed with Eliza, and her situation, it's all the more sweet. The scene in which Eliza jumps from the boat, jumping from ice patch to ice patch across the Ohio river is unlike anything we have read thus far. Never has so much action been placed around a mother and child.

Overall, I'd say that Uncle Tom's Cabin keeps the assumption that having strong faith in God will see you through, also, I would think this is an example of children in literature used to draw emotions out of us. Finally I think it is trying to teach a moral as well, and the fact that it is through such a violent story kind of makes since and goes along with the teaching of morals idea.