Old Fashioned girl, Louisa May Alcott - Book Report/Review Example

An Old-Fashioned Girl Few can doubt that An Old-Fashioned Girl is one of Louisa May Alcott most notable stories. This is a ic story of being out of your element and unsure of yourself in a strange new situation. Polly, a nice country girl goes to visit her friend Fanny in the city. Everything in the city is new and strange to Polly and she feels overwhelmed. During her time in the city, the Shaw family treats her poorly and thinks little of her because of her country clothes and manner. She is turned off of the city.

She finds it over-the-top and difficult to take in or accept. She believes it is not for her and that it treats country people poorly. She finds the people in it to be false and unreal. Several years later, Polly returns to the city more comfortable in her own skin. She finds the Shaws on the edge of bankruptcy and slowly shows them the wisdom of her own country ways. Eventually she falls for Tom, a charming roughneck. The main point of the story is that people may misjudge country people and think they are bumpkins, but their way of living may well be best because it is tried, tested, and true.

Pollys character exemplifies this. Polly is a plain and uninteresting person. Her character is tedious and unfunny. She is not the kind of person you would enjoy sharing a beer with. She is insecure and also somewhat smug. Overall, this is a fine story for children as it is very simplistic. The conflict is not interesting. There is nothing challenging or subtle about the plot or the writing that Alcott employs to communicate her ideas to the reader. The story and characters are basic and the narrative largely pre-arranged.

There are no surprises and nothing is out of the ordinary. It is a very conservative story about very conservative people. Alcott lived in a different time, a time when women had many fewer opportunities than they do today and when they struggled to express themselves. Many women writers of this time had very domestic views of the world, having little experience outside of the home. As a result, their stories were mostly about relationships and about sentimental scenes, of which this story has many.

The years have not been especially kind to Alcott, as critics have found her work wanting in many regards. Many of her stories, including this one involve a lot of moralizing. That is at the heart of the conflict in this story: different views of the world and how life should be lived. Alcott is happy to present an unsubtle view of the world, siding with Polly over everyone else. Although Polly encounters many different people who disagree with her or disrespect her, as the hero it is clear that her view will win out in the end.

This does not make for an especially interesting story, and the other perspectives are not fully presented and explained. These criticisms are especially true of this unfortunate and boring short story. The conflict is minor and uninteresting. It simply does not get the blood pumping. In the end, after reading the story An Old Fashioned Girl, the reader might be forgiven for thinking that the title refers to Alcott. Her prim and sentimental stories have never seemed more otherworldly or ancient.