Another Type of Innocence

After reading the rest of The Hidden Hand, a quote stuck out to me that I kept reading over and over again because it is so true involving Capitola: "She had indeed the innocence of youth, but not its simplicity" (p. 187) This seemed to tell readers that although Capitola is only a young girl, she had endured things that some adults have not gone through. 

Capitola talks about having to "[sell her] clothes, piece by piece, to the old Jew over the way," in order to have food for herself (p. 182). She was "trying to get jobs every hour in the day," discovering that nobody wants to hire a petty girl that has no muscle or strength to do odd jobs (p. 182). When worse came to worse, Capitola felt as if though "there seemed to be nothing but starvation or beggary," giving her no way to survive (p. 182). She finally decides that the only way she can make money and feed and support herself is to become a boy. As soon as the idea occurred to her, Capitola goes to the old Jew's shop and asks for "the raggedest suit of boy's clothes he had, whether they'd fit [her] or not" (p. 184) Capitola ends up making a great living for herself, not having to worry if she can eat when the next meal rolls around.

This story captures the very essence of the determination Capitola had to survive, yet she accomplishes it in the most humble and innocent way possible. Never once does she think about stealing or resorting to any kind of prostitution that some girls might have had to give in to. She provides for herself in the Great American Way: hard, sweaty work. While telling her story, she even worries that the judge and Old Hurricane "dare to think but what [she] did" (p. 184). This attitude she has to take care of herself shows great character even though she is a young child.

The Lamplighter: Anna and Gerty

I do not know if necessarily the depiction of girls has changed, or if it merely had to do with the two girls' personalities. Anna, the guest on Amy Pholer's "Smart Girls at the Party" is very relaxed and stabilized, while Gerty in "The Lamplighter" is very emotional and rough around the edges. There are significant differences as well as similarities that make up both.

A drastic difference in the two girls was how they viewed the world and how each is accepted into it. Anna told Amy that she felt as though she could be herself and people would like her for that. She knew she had the freedom to be who she wants to be and not what others want. Gerty tends to push away people and peers, such as children her age. Among the kids "she had made herself feared as well as disliked" and was constantly rejected by them (page 84). She always was never accepted because "she was the worst-looking child in the world, and, what was more, the worst behaved" (page 80). Gerty was constantly told how unattractive and "witch-like" she looked (page 81).

Both girls also have different ways of reacting when bad or stressful things happen to them. Anna tells Amy in the interview that when she needs to get away from the world, she does yoga. She feels this keeps balance and peace in her lief. When Gerty is mad or upset, she lashes out such as "lift[ing] a stick of wood which lay near her, [and flinging] it at Nan with all her strength" because Nan killed her kitten (page 90). She also "sometimes weep[s] for hours, so upset about her life (pages 84-85).

One similarity I found was that both girls do have a positive outlet at times that helps them vent and de-stress. Anna talks and talks about yoga and how it makes her happy and content. Gerty sometimes retreats to a "wood-yard," where she "brood[s] over her griefs, her wrongs, and her ugliness" (page 84). It is the only place she feels safe and not judged.

Because of these similarities and differences, I feel Gerty would react quite differently in the interview then Anna did. I feel that Gerty's answers would be more bitter and abrupt and she would probably at some point, get angry with Any. She most definitely would not dance at the end, because I do not think she has anything to dance for. 

Complications of Slavery in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Chapter ten in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" really struck me as far as how enslaved children behaved and what their parents expected of them compared to free white children. There are similarities and differences in the way George is taught as a slave and the way Ellen is brought up in a slave-free environment. These comparisons both correlate and confuse the didactic theories of children's literature. 

After learning of Uncle Tom's arrest, George throws a fit and is greatly upset, "sobbing and groaning vehemently" (UTC page 170) while Ellen in "The Wide, Wide World" is asked to stop acting as a child and immediately "[says] little, and did not weep any more" (WWW page 25). It seems that emotion and exploring those feelings was acceptable to the salves, where as Middle or Upper class white children were taught to suppress those feelings and be mature. 

George is then told by Uncle Tom to "keep close to [his] mother" and try to stay out of trouble and "hold on to her, and grow up, and be a comfort to her" (UTC 173). As George is lectured to take care of his mother, little Ellen makes it a priority in her life to take care of her ill mother, because her "love to[wards] her mother was the strongest feelings her heart knew" (page 25). She made it her business to prepare the tea and toast, comforting her mother in any way she could. Both children in this scenario are taught to love their mothers and always be there for them, tending to their needs. 

The last difference I found in Chapter ten of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" compared to "The Wide, Wide World" is each set of parents' idea of being a good person in society. Uncle Tom tells George he has everything in the world to be a positive influence in the world and make his parents proud: "l'arnin', privileges, readin', writin" (UTC page 173). Ellen's mother wants Ellen to "always [be] neat, and tidy, and industrious; depending upon others as little as possible" (WWW page 44). Both parents give them the tools to be an ideal good person, yet they view these ideas in a different light. Mrs. Montgomery wants Ellen to be moral and productive, while Uncle Tom wants George to be able to read and write. 

The slight disconnect between these stories is largely due to ethnicity and economical background. Although each child is brought up in a different way, all that each parent wants is to be proud of their children in their own perception. Each parent wants to feel as though they raised their child to be as great as they could be. 

The Wide, Wide World

In the Wide, Wide World we see the interesting story of Ellen Montgomery. She is a young girl striving to please her parents, yet wants to be all grown up. Her parents play a huge role in how she behaves and handles situations.

The text encourages us to view the role of the parents as basically equipping Ellen to be a civilized young adult. Ellen's mother is determined to teach her to be "tidy, and industrious; depending on others as little as possible (page 24). Mrs. Montgomery also encourages Ellen to pray to God, asking "that He would take away the power of sin, and show [her] himself" page 31). Ellen's mother feels it is so important to love God more than "anybody or anything," knowing Ellen needs to grasp the concept of faith (page 31). Ellen's father appreciates the fact that Ellen does not "make a great fuss" when he tells her she must go to England immediately (page 55). He wants her to be strong and is pleased when she "behave(d) [so] admirably" (page 55).

Although both parents want their child to be prepared for the real world, they both handle their "mentoring" differently. Captain Montgomery comes off as very stern towards Ellen, expecting her to be non-emotional. When he goes to wake her up to get ready for England, he hopes that "the final leave-taking [is] as brief as possible," showing his resistance to be sentimental and upset that Ellen is leaving (page 54). Ellen's mother behaves the complete opposite, loving Ellen as much as possible. When Ellen is upset, Mrs. Montgomery is there to "reach out a hand to her...with all the energy of gratitude, love and sorrow (page 30). Mrs. Montgomery dreads the day when Ellen must leave, while Captain Montgomery does not have any reactions towards the matter. We see the two parents act in the same consistent way towards Ellen throughout the book. 

I think Ellen sees her parents just as they act towards her. Ellen's "love to her mother was the strongest feelings her heart knew" and she does anything in her power to please her mother and make her happy (page 5). I would think Ellen sees her father as a very detached and odd person because of his absence from her life as well as his lack of "not readily [being] touched by anything (page 54). Ellen probably expects her father to behave in the same passive way he has throughout her life, knowing that he is only around when something bad is about to happen to her: "there was no need  at all for him to trouble himself with making painful explanations" (page 55). The love Ellen feels from her mother would be what she expects because Ellen "always feels safe when [her mother is] near [her], because [Ellen knows her mother will] take care of [her] (page 10).

5 Main Theories for Analyzing Children's Literature

There are many ways to deconstruct the different frameworks that make up children's literature. Finding five main theories to support these claims is difficult to decide because of all of the possible ways that children's literature can be outlined. I will lay out the top five analyses that stood out the most to me, explaining through textual evidence why they are so significant to the composition of children's literature.

The most emphasized structural outline to children's literature is the adult's influence in each story written.  Stories were based intentionally to "offer insight into what Americans wanted of and for their society," knowing children would be the next generation (Macleod page 3). As parents they felt it was their duty to uphold their children to the same beliefs they had and to further those life-long aspirations. The stories told were "static and repetitious" with "few surprising points of view" because of adults' eagerness to embed these loyal qualities into the minds of children (Macleod page 3). These ideals also carried on into the actual content of the stories, preaching to children how to be a good person.

An important aspect of analyzing children's literature is realizing what kind of stories were told to the children. Children's books were meant "to teach, and specifically, to teach morality" to the younger generation so they could learn right from wrong (Macleod page 3). The older society felt that in order to "fit a child for the adult world" they must ensure "immanence and innocence" into the children, making sure they were fit to make moral decisions in their lifetime (Sanchez-Eppler page 5). Repetitive stories of "good characters contrasted with bad"

 were displayed for children to see that the bad people will always be punished and the good people will always flourish and be content with life (Macleod page 5). Along with children attaining the knowledge of good and evil came more responsibilities to be dealt with and how to decipher childhood from adulthood.

Responsibility played a hefty part in deciding when children were accepted as mature, growing out of their adolescent stage. Adults set up steps for success for children through books and their lessons, but it ultimately was up to the child to decide if they wanted to take the new knowledge and mature from it. Children went through "stages in the process of making an adult identity," trying to be accepted into society as a mature individual (Sanchez-Eppler page 8). When children decided to be adults was entirely up to them, depending on whether or not they had a specific "set of social conditions" that could be productive to society (Sanchez-Eppler page 13). Age had no correlation to whether or not a person was a child or an adult. Childhood is merely a "status or idea associated with innocence and dependency than as a specific or biological period" (Sanchez-Eppler page 13). If an eight year old understands concepts of morality that the public sees as mature and they can be responsible for themselves, then they can be viewed as an adult. This idea that a young person can be adult-like tends to interfere with the idea with what the child's role in their family is consisted of.

A conflicting idea with children's literature is the question of how to view children culturally. In the nineteenth century "all children participated in some form of family-labor"

 until laws were set up to abandon this idea of "abusing" children by making them to work (Sanchez-Eppler pages 9 & 10). They then were seen more intimately, as humans to love and care for. This construes a flaw in the system of parents raising their children to be "robots"of them, teaching them how to run a country properly. Should the parents "prepare children for adult worries and responsibilities or protect them in a freer world of imagination and play" (Sanchez-Eppler page 10)? The fact that children lose their child day dreams and play dates might affect them in long run, being drilled by their parents instead of loved and admired. The protection of children is still shown in over-bearing adults in being firm in what their children should believe.

The last foundation of children's literature is the parents' fear of change and finding ways to discourage industrialization to kids. Urbanization was portrayed by authors as " dangerous, corrupting, and immoral," shying kids away from leaving the country and moving into the city (Macleod page 6). Stories were told of bad people living in the city and immoral occurrences happening there. The new era of the machine also worried authors and how they would keep children out of the city and wanting to stay in the country. Authors persistently portrayed the "yeoman farmer as the backbone of the nation," although there was obvious and unwanted change occurring around everyone (Macleod page 7). This fear of change scared adults into thinking this new industrialization would corrupt the children, causing chaos and destruction to their idea of America. Throughout the nineteenth century, they pushed to oppose these new ideas and stick to what formed their country in the first place.

These five theories sum up the formation of children's literature and explain why stories were written in the manner that they were. They build the foundation of several generations before us and show us the adequate attention paid to keep America the way it was.