Childrens Literature - Depiction of Fatherhood - Essay Example

Children’s Literature - Depiction of Fatherhood Order No. 750970 ‘Little Women’ (1868 – 9) was Louisa May Alcott’s ground breaking book directed towards girls and depicting their conflicts and struggles as they learn and grow into women. Alcott deftly weaves the celebration of bonds shared between the girls and their mother and also among the sisters themselves in a very realistic portrayal that etches out each of their characters. ‘Little Women’ by Alcott served to be a hallmark in fictional writing for women as it portrayed women as much more than just traditional wives and mothers, but advocated the celebration of women who were intelligent and independent and who pursued careers of their own. ‘Treasure Island’ is Robert Louis Stevenson’s scintillating novel that is fired with adventure in a quest to find a hidden treasure. The protagonist of the story is Jim Hawkins who helps his mother to run the Admiral Benbow Inn. The drama begins when an old sea dog Billy Bones, comes to the inn and hires Jim to keep a look out for sailors who were tracking and hunting him down to kill him. Despite Jim’s watchful eye, Black Pew and Black Dog hound them out with a group of other pirates and make a search for the old sea dog’s papers. Jim snatches up a stack of papers to make good the sailor’s debt and leaves the inn with his mother. Among the papers Jim finds an old map that showed the location of Pirate Flint’s buried treasure. Three people – Jim, Squire Trelawney and Doctor Livesey, are all out to find the hidden treasure and leave in a ship on a very interesting adventure. Among others, there was a one- legged pirate called Long John Silver who was also after the treasure. A bloody mutiny takes place between Jim and the other pirates and Jim escapes from the ship, but finally discovers the marooned sailor Ben Gunn, who had already managed to find the hidden treasure. The intricate plot ends in their victory over the pirates and they return home safely with their treasure. Both the stories, ‘Little Women’ by Alcott and ‘Treasure Island ‘ by R.L. Stevenson have very strong story lines relevant to that age when society was made up of gender identities and set patterns of behavior that were unique to girls and boys. In Alcott’s story, the chief protagonist is Josephine March, the second eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. March. Jo as she was fondly called, was one among four sisters who was not only intelligent but also tomboyish and quick tempered besides her love for literature. The family was raised by the mother, as their father served in the Civil War. When he was around her father, on many occasions pointed out to Jo’s un-lady like behavior and referred to her as his “son Jo” and hence was considered to be the man of the family, when her father was not around. Jo had an untamable temper and a very sharp tongue and found it hard to contain her emotions. Her other sisters, Beth, Meg and Amy were often hurt by her acidic remarks. However, she adored her family but nevertheless gave first priority to her literary obsession. Gender roles play an important role in the story ‘Little Women’. With the father serving as a chaplain, in the Civil War and the mother immersed in domestic responsibility, the four sisters had ample time to nurture their talents. Though the three other sisters had talents that were acceptable to the society of that time, Jo, the imaginative and rebellious kind, had the talent of writing which in those days was considered to be only a man’s arena. Against all odds she was determined to pursue a career in writing even though it was considered to be a masculine occupation. She took great initiative to hone her creative and imaginative skills and finally succeeded in becoming a great inspirational figure to the women of her time and even later. Her attitude towards life and her rebelliousness of not being the ‘typical’ girl’, is so aptly summed up in this sentence by Alcott, “Can’t keep still all day, and not being a pussycat, I don’t like to doze by the fire. I like adventures, and I’m going to find some.” (p.254) Jo remembers her father saying, ‘Conquer yourself’ and reminded them that the Civil War has to be fought at home. The father in ‘Little Women’ plays a pivotal role, even though he is either at war or when he returns home, remains in the background in the novel. In her own life, the author, Louisa May Alcott had a lot of father issues. Her own father, Bronson Alcott was an unconventional thinker and a Transcendentalist philosopher, who always disrupted the peace and harmony within his family with his conflicting ideas and crazy projects. He also had a very over bearing attitude and because of this, had many conflicting issues with his daughter Louisa. However, in her novel on ‘Little Women’ Alcott provides Jo, the protagonist, a father she wished she had. The father character portrayed in the novel is quite opposite to the real father Alcott had in life. The character of the father in the novel is shown to be a person who was a source of moral guidance to his family as well as the community, the times he returned from the war and the time spent with them. However, this character is portrayed as a very quiet and laid back individual, who busied himself in thinking about philosophical issues, but at the same time he allowed his wife and children freedom to be in charge of certain things in the house. The father figure, as given in Alcott’s novel, was an individual who was compassionate and considerate towards Jo and her feelings and was very unlike Alcott’s own father who was brash and harsh in his words and never failed to tell Louisa if something was wrong about her. One such incident that proves Jo’s father always encouraged and stood by her was when Jo almost gave up on a writing career saying that she didn’t have the heart to write (419) Her mother and father encouraged her by asking her to write a story for them. “Write something for us, and never mind the rest of the world” ’ (419).Her father took her story to a popular magazine and got it published with great success. In fact, it is these sensational stories that helped to pay off the huge family bills. Though Alcott had great respect for her father, yet she was angered by his idealism and his perfectionist attitude. Alcott contrasts it with Mr. March’s (Jo’s father) consideration and encouragement towards the members of his family. In this story ‘Little Women’ is a portrayal of the relationship of Louisa and her father in real life and Jo and Mr. March in the novel. Alcott assures us, that to the outside world, it seemed that the women ruled the house, but in reality it was the father who was at the helm of things, was still the head of the family, the household conscience, anchor, and the comforter; for to him the busy, anxious women always turned in troublous times, finding him, in the truest sense of those sacred words, husband and father’ (229–30). Finally, the high spirited Jo comes to terms with herself as a little woman by getting married to Professor Bhaer who was strong and resilient in his ways and reminded her of her own father. Michael Kimmel in his account on American masculinity during the 19th century refers to the character of Laurie whose grandfather wanted him to be a successful businessman like himself. In those days boys were expected to maximize their careers by making a lot of money through business. Laurie, on the other hand wanted to pursue a career in music, but this was considered to be an unmasculine career. His grandfather remarked ‘His music isn’t bad, but I hope he will do as well in more important things’ (55). As opposed to men, women were supposed to carry out all the domestic chores and raise children. In her novel ‘Little Women’ Alcott depicts women who were independent and rebellious in the beginning but eventually give up their selfish and self- centered attitudes to become little women and settle down peacefully with their families. In R.L. Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’ the parents of Jim Hawkins are used more as plot devices that move this scintillating adventure forward. Both these characters do not play major roles in this adventure novel. They are portrayed as honest innkeepers who run the Admiral Benbow Inn. Jim’s father is sick and dying and by Chapter 3, he passes away, leaving Jim and his mother to eke out their own living in the world. However, when Billy Bones an old sea dog comes to stay at the inn, he dies in his tussle with the pirates who were after him, it is the mother who intervenes by running through his sea chest, to find anything of value that would pay his dues. In their search, they find a treasure map that triggers a thrilling and eventful adventure. In Chapter 3 of Treasure Island, we find that Jim Hawkin’s father dies after a prolonged sickness, while Billy Bones is lying sick in bed and trying to recover from his ordeal with the pirates. Even as the funeral preparations are being made and his father’s body is being carried out, Jim does not display much emotion about the loss. However, the next day after the funeral, a blind beggar, ominous in appearance forces Jim to take him to Billy Bones’ room as he had an important matter with him. On seeing the blind man, Billy Bones reacts in fear and dread. The blind man thrusts something in Billy’s hand and makes a hasty retreat. Billy recoils in fear, jumps up and shouts aloud that he had only 6 hours until the clock struck 10 and with this he collapses to the floor. The sight of dead Billy on the floor triggers the rush of tears from Jim Hawkins- the tears he could not shed for his father. In R.L Stevenson’s historical adventure, Jim Hawkin’s father does not have a major role and his character is used to move the story forward. When his father dies, Jim is in search of a father figure throughout the story of ‘Treasure Island. The author R.L Stevenson has aptly substituted the father figure with other characters in the story. One such character is the old sea dog sailor Billy Bones who comes to stay at the Admiral Benbow Inn, Dr. Livesey, a physician and Long John Silver the pirate. Billy Bones is a tall heavy set, drunken sailor who had a pigtail and a scar across his face. After the death of his father, Jim looks up to Billy Bones to fill the space of his lost father. Billy fascinates Jim with interesting stories of the sea and his life as a sailor. Some of these stories excite Jim while others give him fearful nightmares. It is through Billy that Jim gets a Treasure map, but sadly this relationship is nipped in the bud as Billy suffers a stroke and dies after his deadly encounter with the pirates. Jim is deeply saddened by the loss of Billy and expresses this sadness with a rush of tears – the tears he could not shed at his father’s demise. Another father character as seen by Jim is Dr. Livesey, a physician in a town, quite near the Admiral Benbow. Having served in the army, the doctor upheld the military virtues of efficiency, courage and loyalty. Dr. Livesey is very fond of Jim and helps him in his adventure to get the hidden treasure. He likes Jim to the extent that he even finds a doctor to replace him when Jim wanted him to accompany him on his adventure and when Jim gets captured by Long John Silver, Dr. Livesey shows great concern and tries his best to find him. He is quite relieved when he finds that Jim is safe and alive and tries to persuade him to come back with them. When Jim refuses, Dr. Livesey warns Long John Silver to keep him safe and sound.. Finally, he is very happy when he is reunited once again with Jim. The character of Dr. Livesey, helps Jim to regain the lost faith he had in his father who was sick and was not of much use to the family. Dr. Livesey was the kind of person Jim could look up to as well as rely upon. R.L. Stevenson’s depiction of the character of Long John silver is a composite one. His personality is one that fluctuates between good and bad. Long john Silver is one of the most picturesque and vivid characters and one that is remembered throughout the novel. He is a complex character that is paternal and kind on one hand and cruel and greedy on the other hand. He is another character that seems to fill the void of a father for Jim. In most of his dealings with Jim he exhibits paternal love and kindness and spends many happy hours narrating his escapades at sea which Jim enjoys because he has never experienced anything like this with his own father. Conclusion Alcott’s portrayal of ‘Little Women’ is filled with both anger and political perception, against the harsh backdrop of the Civil War. Her writing in the novel alternates between her own real life father and the father she wants so much to have and which she gives the family in ‘Little Women’. Her own father was a well educated man but one who had little time for her and the father she gives Jo is soft spoken, kind hearted and concerned about his family, even though he always remains in the background. Quite in contrast to this, is R.L. Stevenson’s portrayal of Jim’s father. In his novel ‘Treasure Island, Jim’s father is depicted as a very sick and weak man who is content to be to himself and does not go much out of his way to make a big difference to anyone around him. Jim was smart and adventurous and he did not have a father to match up to anything he wanted to do in life because his father was too quiet and laid back with little concern for Jim’s feelings. In the same way, Jim did not have an intimate rapport with his father and this is very evident in Chapter 3 when he does not shed tears at his father’s death bed. To fill this fatherly void Jim is always on the look out for a strong fatherly figure which he finds in Billy Bones, Dr. Livesey and in the pirate Long John Silver. In this manner, Stevenson balances well, the loss of a good father with these characters in this novel. In their novels, both the authors make the readers realize the importance of a good and noble father and what could happen for the lack of it. Both these novels are masterpieces and indispensable to many youth who experience the same condition even today. References Book Summary – Treasure Island www.edocere.org/book_summaries/treasure_island.htm Father (Mr. March) in Little Women www.shmoop.com/little-women/father-mr-march.html Kimmel, M.S. 1996. Manhood in America: A Cultural History. New York, Free Press. Little Women – Gender www.studymode.com/subjects/little-women-gender-page2.html Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 420. All subsequent references will be to this edition and will be included parenthetically within the text. Little Women was originally published in 1869. Treasure Island – Study World www.studyworld.com Read More