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).
Hey Halie! This definitely made me look at Mrs. Montgomery as more of a teacher than of just a sick mother being taken care of by her daughter! Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI would have to say, I hadn't really thought of looking at the parent's roles as "mentors" until now. I like the idea though. Mrs. Montgomery seems like she would be the mentor for a young child, such as Ellen is. However, Mr. Montgomery is more of the type who should mentor the older adolescents/teenage group because of his detachment with Ellen.
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