A Famous Children's Book of Little Men - Essay Example

Education Values in ‘Little Men’ by Louisa May Alcott ‘Little Men’, a famous children book, was written by a well-known American Louisa May Alcott. It was published in 1871 after the publication of her novel ‘Little Women’ as its sequel. The fame of ‘Little Women’ made Alcott write another novel ‘Good Wives’ and they both are published together as one novel. These novels fall in the genre of children literature where the writer aims to not only amuse its young readers but also instruct them the ways of self-improvement, to live a healthy life coping with all the odd circumstances and following the ethical codes of life. So, Christian morality and worldly wisdom are put side by side in this novel. In the nineteenth century, there was a gender differentiation in the children literature and books were written separately for boys and girls presenting them in their own spheres and inspiring their young readers to cross the hurdles with strength, courage and bravery and take a positive part in the development of a society. Many books and magazines got published which aimed boys and girls separately in order to educate them. The books and magazine meant for boys presented the adventurous stories and sport activities to motivate the boys to learn skills and to attain a healthy life, i.e. ‘Treasure Island’ and the books and magazines meant for girls presented domestic matters and imaginative stories to teach the girls to take active part in the household and proved their importance in emotional relationships, i.e. ‘Little Women’. In 1879, ‘The Boy’s Own Paper’, a well-known magazine, was published by the Religious Tract Society and it presented the adventurous stories of sports, schools and explorations and emphasised the manliness and naturalness in order to motivate its readers. In 1880, its companion magazine ‘The Girls’ Own Paper’ was published to amuse and instruct girls through the pleasurable articles that presented the household matters. These magazines were claimed to be full of educational material and ethical requirements (Holland 8-9). Alcott has written her novel ‘Little Women’ for girls with a didactic purpose as she shows the struggle of the girls to do all the household and living a personal life of imagination and spirituality. She also shows that dullness and laziness cannot bring respect, prosperity or happiness in life. She does not show a conventional woman of the nineteenth century who could not actively participate in the society and stay at home to do the chores rather she inspires her readers by the protagonist Jo who not only manages the household but also runs a school with her husband. The ‘Little Men’ is written as a sequel to ‘Little Women’ and we find in this novel this very couple; they have their own family and they run a school in which they teach the children of different minds coming from different backgrounds. ‘Little Men’ is an account of the activities of a bunch of students in Plumfield Estate School run by Mr. Friedrich and his wife, Mrs. Josephine. In ‘Little Men’, Alcott aims mainly at educating the boys through her male characters. We observe that the teaching in the school do not follow the conventional patterns as the students are not given any particular set of books, rather, they are left in the company of nature in elders supervision and they learn through experiments. Their contact with nature allows them to experiment, observe, explore and learn. The interaction among the students is on natural bases which educates them to go along the social life. The story opens with the appearance of a little boy Nat, an orphan who earns his living by using his wonderful capability of playing violin, and we are introduced to all the other characters through his eyes. There is a pleasant note of hospitability at the very start of the story that a poor boy may not expect for him in a society where only rich are honoured and he thinks, ‘it was hardly possible that the light and warmth and comfort could be for a homeless ‘little chap’ like him’ (Ch. 1). Later on he is told, ‘My child, you have got a father and a mother now, and this is home’ (Ch. 1). His entry into the house presents a lively sight where we find different students busy in different activities and the Plumfield is introduced as ‘a nice place’ a place where they not only learn to live on their own but also enjoy freedom and have fun on Sundays by playing different games, e.g., pillow-fight, banister-sliding so the school acts as a place where everybody is supposed to forget the previous grieves to have a ‘good time’. In ‘Little Men’, the way of educating children is built on natural ways as we see nothing is imposed on the students as we are told through Mrs. Jo, ‘we don’t believe in making children miserable by too many rules, and too much study’ (Ch. 1). Mrs. Jo, the principal of the school, is introduced as a very humble woman who takes care of the needy children of the society and educates them according to their interest and brings them up as responsible members of the society who can struggle hard and earn well by using their skills. The owners of the school are introduced to Nat as ‘Father Bhaer’ and ‘Mother Bhaer’ which shows that home like environment is provided to the students. Mrs. Jo is not only the principal of the school but also a motherly figure for all the students teaching them manners of eating, providing them with clothes and taking a good care of them when they are sick as Mrs. Jo tells, ‘to have a good time in, and to learn how to help themselves and be useful men’ (Ch. 1). She is a keen observer who seemingly indulged in serving tea, hears Nat and Tommy frankly to each other and decides to put him next to Tommy to sleep and then she brings fiddle to him to play something and he feels encouraged to do it with pleasure. All the rest of the students are also appreciated for their choices of work as one enjoys such work and polishes his capabilities via practice. Being the principle of the school, Mrs. Jo keeps the performance records of the students confidentially and they are shown to the students so that they may judge and improve themselves to be a better person. We observe that Mr. Bhaer is not only the owner of the school but also a fatherly figure who teaches them in a polite way and induces discipline in their personalities. The students are allowed to have fun in a particular time and then they are supposed to work in an orderly manner without making noise or teasing each other. There may be a friendly behaviour while they are having a family time but when it is the time to sleep, Mr. Bhaer asks them to turn off the lights and go to bed and the instructions are followed instantly. So, we observe that the formal and informal way of educating the students goes side by side. We find the teachers as role models who practice moral values to teach and motivate the students to show the best way of conduct to other people in the society. They are taught to respect elders, love children and to cooperate and help the people around. The boys are educated to show punctuality and regularity in completing everyday tasks along with having fun. All the boy are assigned different domestic tasks which they do at home then they are driven to their school where they have their own small pieces of land where they keep their pets and run small business. We are given a detailed account of the belongings of the little boys at school and when Nat listens from Tommy all these details, he feels sad and miserable as he had nothing and being an orphan no one from his parents could provide him money or pets to run his own business at the school. We are amazed and glad to hear the suggestion of the little friend who assign him the task of collecting eggs of his hen for him to get paid and then from his earning he could buy his own pets and be able to run a little business like other boys. This shows how perfectly they are taught to earn money and to help others in a professional way. Such boys will surely be a productive part of the society when they grow up and run business on a bigger level. The students in ‘Little Men’ are not only brought in close contact to nature but they are also guides to harvest crops under the kind supervision of Mr. Bhaer and they learn through experiments as Tommy says with a sense of belonging, ‘These are our farms. We each have our own patch, and raise what we like in it, only have to choose different things, and can’t change till the crop is in, and we must keep it in order all summer’. The students learn through cultivating different crops such as corns, beans, potatoes, to see which one is profitable and easy and make their independent decisions accordingly. Mr. Bhaer teaches them through telling different stories of farmers which helps them in making decisions. The devotion of the students is not limited to the cultivation of material crops and get rich financially, it also broadens to the moral development of characters as they make resolutions to struggle for self improvement by cultivating patience by Mrs. Jo, perseverance by Franz, steadiness by Tommy, good temper by Ned, industry by Daisy and ‘as much wiseness as Grandpa’ by Demi. Nat timidly asked Mr. Bhaer to decide for him and the others go for generosity, good temper, etc. As the story proceeds, we observe a gender differentiation among the students as the students are also taught according to the role they are going to play in the society We observe that mostly the girls do not cultivate the crops and stay at home and take part in domestic activities and play with dolls but the boys have to support their families financially so they run some business and play outdoor games like football. We come to know from Daisy, ‘the boys won’t let me play with them’ and the reason given by them is ‘girls can’t play football’ (Ch. 5) as they are fragile and the boys are physically strong so Mrs. Jo indulges the girls in other games which the girls can enjoy so she arranges cooking classes for girls. She develops Daisy’s interest in cooking by telling her about delicious foods which could be easily cooked and also guide the girls to take precautionary measures to stay safe as we find Mr. Jo supervise the boys and guides them through telling different stories to keep them safe from any loss or destruction of the crops. She also provides them moral teaching by relating it to their recipes as we hear Mrs. Jo addresses one of the girls, ‘salt is like a good humour, and nearly everything is better for a pinch of it, Posy’ (Ch. 5). So, we find both the husband and wife teaching the students in a way which doesn’t seem imposed and while educating them different skills they are given moral education so they may constitute a healthy society. The arrival of every new student fills this homely school with excitement as it gives the other students a new friend who brings new skills and games, and a new challenge to Mr. And Mrs. Bhaer and they put their best efforts to educate him well along with other students. Mr. Bhaer teaches the students to stay kind to everyone and not to involve in any kind of bad habits but the new boy Dan proves to be hard task for both of the owners who introduces gambling, smoking, swearing, fighting, playing cards, drinking, bull-fighting, and boxing in the school and this disappointing situation make Mr. Bhaer remove him temporarily from the school. But they all expect that the kind and friendly treatment given to him even after all his unruliness would bring him back in future as a good boy. Later, when Nat, who loved him for his courage and sympathised with him for being left alone with no food and shelter, when alleged to be a thief by other boys, Dan comes back and redeems by standing up for Nat and becomes a responsible and trusted fellow who respects and cares for others. With the arrival of Nan, Alcott brings a new thought to the readers that girls are not weak creatures and they can also be physically and mentally enough strong to complete hard tasks and meanwhile managing domestic matters. Nan, for her courage and boyish manners, is referred as ‘tomboy’ as we observe that she, unlike Daisy, does not enjoy playing much with games and likes to indulge in outdoor activities. Mrs. Bhaer acknowledges her restless nature and finds in her a discontented woman if she is not able to let her passion out by doing something responsible and productive on a bigger level. So, knowing her tendencies Mrs. Bhaer says, ‘she will make a capital doctor, for she has courage, strong nerves, a tender heart, and an intense love and pity for the weak and suffering’ (Ch. 15). Mr. Bhaer appreciates this decision of his wise wife and decides to teach her medicine and explains her the healing properties of different plants so she has the proper knowledge to cure the injuries and diseases. Through ‘The Composition Day’, the importance of reading and writing in a literal way is enhanced where all the students come up with their articles and amusing and informative things of their interest to share with other and are encouraged and appreciated for their efforts. The creativity is shown throughout the novel as the children learn through experiments and come up with new ideas. Mrs. Jo also brings variety in the games that are played by the children and different lessons are taught through them. In ‘The Louisa May Alcott’ Encyclopaedia’, it has been acknowledged that Alcott’s novels offer spiritual and moral development of the character and the practical education intends to discover the most suited occupation for the students without considering the cultural gender expectation, Nan is one such example. Alcott has been seen as ‘a major figure in 19th century education reform’ for her educational theories presented in her novels. Alcott believes that improper education can prove to be a breakdown to both mental and physical health. The balanced education includes not only learning from judicious books but also picking lessons from healthy exercises, daily experiences, proper rest and a healthy diet (Eiselein and Phillips 92-93). To conclude, Alcott has presented Plumfield as one of the best institutions where the students are offered to opt for an occupation which suits their interest and given practical knowledge to earn a better living and they are also taught moral values to live a healthy life. The homely environment provided to the orphans and their interaction with each other and their joyful living make the school a happy place. Works Cited Alcott, Louisa M. Little Men. N.p., 1871. Print. Eiselein, Gregory, and Anne K. Phillips. The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopaedia. 2001. 92–93. Web. books.google.com. Holland, Steve. Look and Learn A History of the Classic Children Magazine. 2006. Web. www.lookandlearn.com/history/Look-and-Learn-History. Read More