Throughout the novel, Little Women, the reader get a full sense of the female community and what it is like in the eyes of the development of womanhood. Earlier this semester, we got a chance to read, Ragged Dick, where we got to see the evolution of Dick developing into a fine young man. Dick learned how to manage his money and take care of himself and his business. However, when reading, Little Women, we have the opportunity to contrast what we know about the development of men and compare how the development of woman is similar and different in a sense. Little Women presents how women helps to support and educate one another through their relationships in order to get through struggles, and hardship and often times giving up their own needs in order to give for others.
Within this novel, the March sisters show the reader that when mistakes happen between the sisters, lessons to overcome selfishness and conceitedness can be learned and overcome. However in the novel, Little Women, the sisters learned their lessons by bouncing off of one another, their mother, aunts, and other members of the community. They almost learn as a group from one another. So how does Lousia May Alcott show that the March sisters develop an independence? In the novel Alcott writes, “ Jo deprived herself of several years of pleasure, and received a timely lesson in the art of holding her tongue. ‘ I don’t like favors; they oppress and make me feel like a slave; I’d rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent’”(Alcott 297). Here Alcott describes initially that Joe has always been deprived to speak her mind for years, always staying clear of any controversy of thought. However at this moment she decides to speak in order to portray her point of view on the matter and her admiration of being independent. Alcott shows in this moment that women become independent at the moment they decide to protect and speak their viewpoints even against contrary belief. For women it is important to cherish your ideas and create a value to them. Those ideas define who you are.
In comparison, Ragged Dick actually shows the opposite type of development. For example, Dick is initially very independent where he lives on the streets and works his shoe cleaning business alone. However he learns by his encounters in the book that it is actually productive and healthy to be open to people and let them in your circle. Dick learns this by meeting Frank.
I agree that there are differences in how Dick and the girls in Little Women develop their senses of self, though I believe that they are more similar than dissimilar. Both Dick and the girls develop their work ethics through learning lessons and through the help of those around them. For Dick, Frank helps him tremendously, while Mrs. March serves as this aid for all four girls. Throughout the novel, Mrs. March helps to teach the girls lessons, such as when she allows them to take control of the household for a brief time in order to see how much work goes into it.
ReplyDeleteThe main difference between the two novels to me is that Dick remained about the same age throughout Ragged Dick. In contrast, Alcott depicts the girls growing up, and each girl is of a different age. Adolescence is a period of extreme personal growth, in which one develops one’s sense of self, which includes one’s own definition of independence. Alcott’s portrayal of learning and developing is more accurate because it does take place over a longer period of time in comparison to Alger’s portrayal of Dick, who learns and changes in a shorter time span.
In addition, although I do agree that Dick is initially very independent, as he is living on the streets, I believe that Jo, and the others, shows her own independence through moving away from home. Jo shows this when she “decid[es] that the money did not pay for her share of the sensation” (290), exemplifying her decision making. Speaking one’s mind, as you point out, is different than living on one’s own, with or without the support of others. Overall, I agree that there are differences in how Dick and the girls develop, though.