Comparing and Contrasting Depictions of Growing Up - Essay Example

Book Reviews 24 October 2009 Introduction The novel “Little Women” written by Louisa May Alcott in mid-nineteenth century is a semi-autobiographical novel based on her own childhood experiences with her three sisters. The setting of the novel is the Alcotts family home called Orchard House located in Concord, Massachusetts. The author gained literary acclaim from publication of “Little Women” and it was followed by three more novels that completed the March Family saga through the next generation. Alcott wrote this novel during the American Civil War which was why the sisters had mentioned missing their father who was serving in the Union Army at that winter time. As Massachusetts is part of the New England, Alcott and her writings were obviously influenced by the political and social developments during her time such as the beginnings of Industrial Revolution (this revolution originated in old England and took first roots in the New England region) that transformed society and business, movement to abolish slavery (the author herself was an abolitionist who gave refuge to a fugitive slave), the introduction of free public education and feminism. It was during this period that the first stirrings for womens rights took hold in the form of the universal suffrage (which meant allowing the women to vote for the first time). Alcott with other female writers took the lead in these movements. It was a time of ferment and excitement, when social barriers were being challenged or being torn down. It was also in New England that the first pieces of truly American literature were published. This region produced so many prominent writers and poets like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Emily Dickinson. Some of them were her contemporaries, family friends or personal acquaintances and influenced her works. The other novel, “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson, is one of the famous male adolescent novels of all time. It is a coming-of-age story that has acquired a life of its own in the annals of children literature. Although written entirely as fiction, its descriptions of sea voyages, pirates, maps, buried treasures and tropical islands are so authentic it had been a source of entertainment and inspiration for generations who longed for adventure, risk taking and excitement. The author used the knowledge and experiences he gained in travelling with his father and grandfather, who were both lighthouse engineers, on their maritime expeditions to check on lighthouses as the primary source of much of his exacting descriptions of sea life. This fictional novel has extremely good characterizations, a riveting plot or storyline, plenty of action and imaginative atmosphere such that “Treasure Island” had been made into a drama and several films (with slightly different versions and variations). It is also a sort of morality play, where pirates often display their own brand of loyalty, honesty and beliefs in religion. This twisted, humorous and intentionally vague treatment of serious moral issues and values is what keeps young readers riveted until the book is finished. In a historical context, the novel perhaps gained popularity as it was published in 1883 at the time when real piracy in the high seas as a maritime phenomenon had largely disappeared. Its appeal was a harking back to an age of swashbuckling adventure no longer available in real life and where pirates can do whatever they want pretty much without any fear of retribution. “Treasure Island” was written when the author was on a holiday in Scotland, but it can be noted here that around this time, much of the English populace was mired in poverty due to the over-dependence on agriculture. Many things were beginning to change as technological advances that collectively came to be known as the Industrial Revolution also transformed everyday English life. There was also a prevalence of gin drinking at this time as gin was very cheap and may have somehow contributed to the overall image of pirates as intemperate. Discussion Ms. Alcott had written “Little Women” within the context of her environment at that time in New England in which womens issues were getting discussed more openly. Her novel which was largely semi-autobiographical viewed these issues through the four March sisters transitions from girlhood to adulthood. The author had written with females as her intended audience and also took into consideration that New England was largely a bastion of strict Puritanism (although there were two versions of it). It can be said that religion around this time largely influenced the political and social spheres in the communities, both in the urban and more remote rural areas of the region. “Treasure Island” is a work of fiction but the time period in which it was written was a significant influence on many aspects of this novel, especially those pertaining to moral issues like irreverence, drunkenness, loyalty and truthfulness. Old England around the mid-18th century had seen large portions of the population abandon religion and opted for the material things in life due to changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution. It was during this period when religion had lost its appeal. It was the Age of Reason and much of religious dogmatism was discarded. The time of Empire was on the rise and people were more interested in earthly pursuits than spiritual matters or finding a better life by emigrating to some of its colonies. These two contrasting ecological polities shaped the themes of the two novels, the first (Little Women) concerned with preservation of moral values but championing the cause of women while the second (Treasure Island) dealt with the immediate here-and-now attitude exhibited by the pirates who think that life is short and uncertain enough as it is, so why even bother with ephemeral values like honesty, word of honor or religion? Although both novels were written barely a few years apart, their treatment of moral issues are vastly different as each authors intentions were to entertain (Stevenson) and instructional (Alcott). The setting of Puritanical New England for the “Little Women” is characterized by the existence of strong family values. The four March sisters had missed their father greatly on Christmas which indicated strong family ties based on religious undertones. On the other hand the setting for “Treasure Island” is like a free-for-all situation due to the unsettled environs associated with piracy where lawlessness reigns in personal relationships. The March sisters were greatly concerned with the situation of other people who were even poorer than them, in the chapter where they all agreed to forfeit their luxurious breakfast although they themselves were admittedly very hungry in favor of poor Mrs. Hummel and her seven miserable children (Alcott 2005, p. 10) prompting the poor woman to cry out, “Angels have come to help us!” In contrast, “Treasure Island” is populated mostly with characters who can promise and commit treachery in equal measure depending on the needs of the moment. A few exceptions were Jim and Captain Smollett with Jim at one point refusing a chance to escape with Dr. Livesey due to his having given his oath by saying “I passed my word.” “Little Women” emphasized as an overall theme a strong family solidarity and a bond between sisters who truly love each other (unlike some sisters who quarrel constantly) plus a healthy dose of teenage romance. A budding feminism is aptly interwoven into the story as the author was herself one of the early feminists. The characters of “Treasure Island” do not value these relationships very strongly and the prevailing attitude is each man for himself. This was amply shown by Dr. Livesey (as one example) who offered to assume responsibility if ever both of them get caught while escaping but in truth had an ulterior motive, to prevent treasure from being found by the pirates. Another example would be John Long Silver, who switches sides so often, depending on the exigencies of the situation as long as it suits him best. This is the theme of “Treasure Island” where betrayal is the norm and expediency is the rule. Many characters here are chronic liars and it is difficult determining which man to trust. The two novels also portrayed contrasting versions of thrift. The March sisters struggle to earn money and saved everything they got, even sacrificing their meager savings for buying gifts for their mom Marmee. This familial bond was demonstrated by their concern that their gifts might not be worthy of their love for their mom, which prompted one of the sisters to buy a bigger perfume bottle for her. What is unspoken in the “Little Women” is the value the four sisters gave to money, that although hard-earned, it should always be spent properly only on the things that really matter. In other words, they have a healthy regard for money. On the other hand, the pirates were grossly profligate, sometimes spending their entire fortunes (or the spoils from piracy) within a very short time, losing it all in gambling, drinking or some frivolous activities like a few flings. For pirates accustomed to a life of debauchery, the way money was earned does not warrant any value for thrift. It is essentially an easy-come and easy-go attitude due to the nature of piracy, obtaining material things through the use of force and hardly with any legitimate labour. It is risky business when they go out for a cruise (euphemism used by Long John Silver for a pirate attack that yields handsomely) and coupled with the pirates view that life itself is short, then there is hardly any compulsion to save any amount derived from their illegal undertakings. Except for the few pirates who had the foresight to keep their monies so they can start something someday, most of the characters in “Treasure Island” usually ended up where they begun – starving and poor as a rat. Piracy connotes something very temporary and there is no incentive to think in the long term and so money is not valued highly except in the situations where it is needed the most but sometimes it is too late to do anything about it. The pirates in fact “been begging before that” (Stevenson 2004, p. 67). The sisters in “Little Women” grew up in hard-pressed circumstances and knew how difficult it is for money to come by at times (doing odd jobs for other people) and earning just a pittance for their efforts. Another personal virtue worth discussing here is self-sacrifice. Alcott had been greatly influenced by her father and due to the poor family circumstances, had worked at several jobs such as a tutor, teacher, seamstress, governess and the ultimate indignity, as a house servant. For her, these sacrifices were worth it and probably contributed to her being a spinster all her life (perhaps her being a lesbian also made her avoid men romantically altogether). Sacrifices are repeated all throughout the “Little Women” and is a pervasive theme in the humour, joys and sentimentality of this novel. Alcotts poverty-plagued childhood no doubt influenced the tone of her writings but she still remained her wit and humour. The pirates in Stevensons novel do not know the meaning of self-sacrifice. For all we know, that term could be totally alien to them altogether. In a pirates world, survival instincts rule their actions and any self-sacrifice they may do in the rare instances would be related to self-preservation. Criminals, as pirates are, simply cross and double-cross each other when it is convenient in the course of their nefarious activities. Values like self-sacrifice are irrelevant. An important feature common to both novels is the way individualism was expressed. In the “Little Women”, each of the sisters pursued their own ways, with two of them getting married eventually while a third one died early. Alcotts own father instilled in the siblings the value of individuality, that is, to pursue ones full potentials regardless of the consequences. It is a value Alcott had treasured the most which explains her various stances on controversial issues of her day. Alcott had expounded on the theme of individuality by making her heroine Jo, in the novel, a rebellious woman. The similarity to Jo goes further, if we believe experts, to extend to sexual orientation with Jo being forced to marry to repress this tendency. This expression of individuality was different in the “Treasure Island” as shown by Jim Hawkins making decisions for himself instead of being cajoled into accepting decisions made by others in the novel. In short, he took matters into his own hands instead of relying on other people. Individuality in “Little Women” was often sacrificed to conform to societal standards. This was a particularly painful decision to make, because like Alcott herself, the characters in her novel have to choose between their striving for their aspirations or bow to the demands of family responsibility and the expectations of society. As this novel is semi-autobiographical, Alcotts experiences were reflected in her writings like heroine Jo having to modify her dream of becoming independent but instead choose to marry. Although Alcott herself did not marry, she was effectively in a sort of domestic life by bringing up her niece who was orphaned at a very early age and became a surrogate mother upon her younger sisters death. The sisters in the novel tried to achieve individuality by striving for a separate identity but some of them did not succeed or achieve their dreams. However, individuality can be expressed in other forms, and this was perhaps achieved by the strong feminist themes in “Little Women” which others may have overlooked. Women who get married need not be totally submerged into domestic life after marriage but still retain their own identities through advocacies of their own outside of the home on issues that matter most to them. In “Treasure Island”, individualism by Jim was expressed also by his taking up some responsibilities normally given to the adults and by contributing his share to the defence of the ship when they were attacked. It was his baptism of fire that had transitioned him to adulthood and made him an individual separate from the other pirates. Many of the novels characters had at one or another encouraged him to be self-confident as a mark of individuality. Making decisions is certainly a distinction of an individual to exercise his own best judgement and the values he holds. Most of the characters in “Treasure Island” besides Jim are very memorable because of their individuality as shown in their virtues and degrees of malevolence. It seems that the more malevolent a character was, the more individualistic he became in the eyes and memories of the novels readers but benevolence can also be highly individualistic. Conclusion Values often change with the times and the novels reviewed here also showed values can be permanent and transcend time itself. This is because certain values like honesty, hard work, love of family and religiosity are very basic to human nature. This time-spanning in the basic values we cherish the most often grow with the persons change from a young person to full adulthood if the values we are talking about are ethical ones (Leighton 2004, p. 511). It is a critical function among humans to find permanence in the midst of change. Characteristics of human nature were also exposed in the novels such as self-sacrifice and greed. Authors, aspiring ones especially at the start of their writing careers, often have to seek a balance between what values they believed in and want incorporated into their works versus the demands of society and their intended readerships. In the case of Alcott, she had to make some compromises with her works because publishers demanded it. If she had not conformed to those wishes, maybe most of her work will never see the light of day. Many of her ideas and the issues elaborated in her body of work were considered advanced in their time such as her stand on abolition and feminism. Robert Louis Stevenson, on the other hand, wrote his novel primarily for profit. He was desperate to show that he could earn his keep and so wrote a novel that would appeal to the times. As a complete work of fiction (although he got ideas from other authors), his main preoccupation was that the novel would be well accepted and be commercially successful. The espousal of certain personal values was probably secondary. It is unavoidable that many writers become products of their times and ecology. In the two novels, many of the values exhibited by the characters reflected the mid-18th century time period when several accepted concepts and ideas were set aside in favour of something new. An important aspect is how individual aspirations are expressed to attain potential and the two novels did this by reflecting profound moral attitudes in their stories (Kleinig 1983, p. 72). Reference List Kleinig, J. (1983). Paternalism. Greater Manchester, England: Manchester University Press ND. Leighton, J. A. (2004). Man and the Cosmos: An Introduction to Metaphysics. Whitefish, MT, USA: Kessinger Publishing. McFadden, D., Alcott, L. M. & Corvino, L. (2005). Little Women. Abridged edition. New York, NY, USA: Sterling Publishing Company. Stevenson, R. L. (2004). Treasure Island. Whitefish, MT, USA: Kessinger Publishing. Read More