Sara Hughes—April 15th, 2015
Literary Analysis
ENG 101—B503
Instructor: Diana Douglas
Orphan Train Literary Analysis
“Orphan Train”, written by Christina Baker Kline, is a novel telling the tales of two lives, Vivian Daly and Molly Ayer. Ninety-one year old Vivian, orphaned at a young age due to a tragic fire (19), explores her past when she encounters seventeen year old Molly, orphaned after her father’s death and her mother being thrown in jail. After getting caught attempting to steal “Jane Eyre” from the school library (6), Molly was referred to Vivian by her boyfriend, Jack, in hopes of knocking out fifty hours of community service by organizing Vivian’s attic. In doing so, Molly begins to uncover and question Vivian about
…show more content…
They both learn to only take what is needed in their travels to new homes. Vivian always wears an Irish-cross necklace given to her by her grandmother when she was a child. “Yes, see how she guards it?” Miss Larsen, Vivian’s teacher in Minnesota, says acknowledging the necklace (163). Molly always carries three charms given to her by her father for her birthday. The charms consist of a fish, raven and bear. Both Vivian and Molly carry these keepsakes as symbols of family that help them remember happier times in their lives as they go from home to home. As the story progresses we …show more content…
However, there have been positive influences in their lives as well. “He has straight sandy hair and pale blue eyes and is twelve or thirteen, from what I can tell, though his manner seems older” (37), Vivian thought when she first encountered Dutchy, his real name Hans, on the orphan train. Vivian also cares for a baby by the name of Carmine when she first arrives on the orphan train. Vivian, Dutchy and Carmine become an “odd little family” (39) first beginning their travels. On the third day on the orphan train they cross into Illinois. After stepping onto the platform of the train station, Dutchy quickly lures Vivian and Carmine away from the others. After arriving in a large terminal, Dutchy hauls Carmine onto his shoulders. “He clasps Carmine’s legs and twirls, Carmine stretching out his arms and throwing his head back, gazing up at the skylights, shrieking with glee as they turn, and in that moment, for the first time since the fire, my worries are gone.” (42). Vivian’s friendship with Dutchy was a bond not easily broken. They promised to find each other again and Dutchy became Vivian’s first husband at a later date. In the same way that Vivian had support in a friendship, Molly had Jack. “She wears her Goth persona like armor. Jack was the only one who’d tried to break through.” (4). Jack first approached Molly in social studies class and asked her to join him
Born in 1959, author Debra Oswald began writing as a teenager. She rose to prominence with the debut of Gary’s House where it was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Award. Many of her works features abandoned and neglected children that grow into adults to fight their own demons in the past. Oswald writes about the importance of a family’s psychology, both real and surrogate. In Gary’s House, Gary had a bad relationship with his father that lead to neglection and eventually hate but when Gary himself becomes a father he disregards his past to provide for his future child. This is the author’s intention of representing how important family is.
The plot of this book begins with the fact that Canadian girl named Laura finds out that her father is a humble pensioner, a former teacher, committed suicide from the bridge, during
The Orphan Train is a compelling story about a young girl, Molly Ayer, and an older woman, Vivian Daly. These two live two completely different yet similar lives. This book goes back and forth between the point of views of Molly and Vivian. Molly is seventeen and lives with her foster parents, Ralph and Dina, in Spruce Harbor, Maine. Vivian is a ninety-one year old widow from Ireland who moved to the United States at a young age. Molly soon gets into trouble with the law and has to do community service. Molly’s boyfriend, Jack, gets his mom to get her some service to do. Jack’s mom allows her to help Vivian clean out her attic. While Molly is getting her hours completed, Vivian explains her past to her. Vivian tells her about all the good times and bad in her life. She tells her about how she had to take a train, the orphan train, all around the country after her family died in a fire. She told her about all the families she stayed with and all the friends she made along the way, especially about Dutchy. Dutchy is a boy she met on the orphan train and lost contact with for numerous years, but then found each other again and got married and pregnant. Sadly, Dutchy died when he was away in the army shortly after Vivian got pregnant. When Vivian had her child, she decided to give her up for adoption. Molly and Vivian grew very close throughout the time they spent together. Molly knows that Dina, her foster mother, is not very fond of her and tells her to leave. Having no place to go, Vivian let her stay at her house.
In the novel Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline, we witness a relationship develop between Molly, a seventeen year old in the foster care system, and Vivian, a ninety-one year old widow that is looking to clean out her attic. As the book progresses, we see them grow closer through telling stories and bonding over their joint hardships. Kline goes out of her way to illustrate this strengthening friendship through many little hints in the novel.
In the novel Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline, we witness a relationship develop between Molly, a seventeen year old in the foster care system, and Vivian, a ninety-one year old widow that is looking to clean out her attic. As the book progresses, we see them grow closer through telling stories and bonding over their joint hardships. Kline goes out of her way to illustrate this strengthening friendship through many little hints in the novel to where she is ultimately leading the duo.
As a child, Judy had a large imagination; and loved to play. Judy always had an adoration of books; she relished the texture, scent, and everything about them. There was one thing though, Judy wanted a book about a child that she could relate to. When Judy was about ten years old, she had to leave her New Jersey home for Miami, Florida, along with her Mother, Nanny Mama, and David. They were going to Florida for the winter because the cold weather in New Jersey was bad for David's health. Doey had to stay in New Jersey to manage his dentist office. Judy wasn't so sure about Miami, plus she was worried about her father because he was forty-two and all of his older brothers had died at that very age. At first Judy wasn't so sure about living in Miami, it was so different. Judy soon made friends with a few girls that lived in the same apartment building as her. They did everything together. They hung out at the beach, did ballet lessons, and went to the same school. Judy left Miami and went back to New Jersey for the summer. The n...
She went to college after high school and didn’t return home after she graduated. She got married to a Muslim man and she became so concerned with her family’s history. When she arrived, she became so concerned with taking pictures of the farmhouse she grew up in a soon as she got their she didn’t even greet her mother and sister Maggie right away. When she entered the home she immediately began to scan the room for things that she felt were good enough to go into her apartment in the city, she also wanted included things that she felt were good enough to impress her friends and to show her where they are from. When she reached the home, she mentioned a few things that stood out to her which included a butter churn and 2 quilts. The two quilts in particular stuck out to her because the two were hand sew by her grandmothers and aunt , along with her mother. Maggie her sister states, “She can have them, Mama,” She said, like somebody used to never winning anything, or having anything reserved for her. “I can member’ Grandma Dee without the quilts’” (Walker). Maggie her younger sister who still lived at home with her family let her sister know she could have them simply because she knew that it wasn’t the quilts that were going to make her remember she’s remembers the years they spent together unlike her sister who was never really around the house as much as Maggie and this was giving Maggie as sense of pride
Despite the connection between the girls, Twyla still feels alienated by the others in the shelter. “Nobody else wanted to play with us because we weren’t real orphans with beautiful dead parents in the sky” (10). The status of “real” versus “non-real” orphan becomes surrogate racism in the shelter. The value of this new classification of the girls is elucidated by the lack of distinct race between Twyla and Roberta, as they become united in the condition of living parents. Their race falls second to whatever else is used to alienate
The war time childhood events Penny and Primrose encounter result in psychological traumas such as parental abandonment. These two girls in particular endure psychological trauma of isolation, neglect, and displacement that begins when the two girls begin walking with the other children to climb aboard the train. The two young friends set off at the ...
The book begins as a mystery novel with a goal of finding the killer of the neighbor's dog, Wellington. The mystery of the dog is solved mid-way through the book, and the story shifts towards the Boone family. We learn through a series of events that Christopher has been lied to the past two years of his life. Christopher's father told him that his mother had died in the hospital. In reality she moved to London to start a new life because she was unable to handle her demanding child. With this discovery, Christopher's world of absolutes is turned upside-down and his faith in his father is destroyed. Christopher, a child that has never traveled alone going any further than his school, leaves his home in order to travel across the country to find his mother who is living in London.
We have all heard the African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The response given by Emma Donoghue’s novel Room, simply states, “If you’ve got a village. But if you don’t, then maybe it just takes two people” (Donoghue 234). For Jack, Room is where he was born and has been raised for the past five years; it is his home and his world. Jack’s “Ma” on the other hand knows that Room is not a home, in fact, it is a prison. Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story but give significance as well. The Point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side with conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel.
Quilts symbolize a family’s heritage. Maggie adheres the tradition by learning how to quilt from her grandmother and by sewing her own quilts. Maggie also puts her grandmother’s quilts into everyday use. Therefore, when Dee covets the family’s heirloom, wanting to take her grandmother’s hand-stitched quilts away for decoration, Mama gives the quilts to Maggie. Mama believes that Maggie will continually engage with and build upon the family’s history by using the quilts daily rather than distance herself from
Symbols are displayed in both stories; the quilts in “Everyday Use” symbolize the memories of Mama’s family. The quilts are made of pieces of old clothing from Mama’s family. Each piece of the quilt represents that person and who they were. They are passed on to future generations along with stories of the ancestors’ past. The quilts represent pride of their ancestors’ struggles, where they came from and the fight to preserve their individuality. Unlike Dee, Mama and Maggie acknowledge their heritage from memories of their family members. Dee bases her heritage off ...
It is imperative to understand that these heirlooms are mere representation of heirlooms designed for everyday use. It is ironic that Dee changes her name, and wants to take the dasher to show off in her home as part of her heritage when she is trying so hard to distance herself from her past. She does not understand that she is taking away an item used every day by her mother. She is convinced that Maggie does not deserve the quilt, because she would merely put it to everyday use. Mama cannot fathom the reason behind Dee’s desire to possess the quilt when it is obvious she sees it as an artifact. The relationship between Mama and Maggie is different from hers and Dee’s and is evident in the way the use of the family heirloom is viewed; while the former would care for and preserve the heirloom, the latter would only hang it as a piece of art, to be discarded when they get old or new ones are
Dally shows up after a week, and takes them to the Dairy Queen in Windrixville. Thanks to Dally, the police think that the boys are headed for Texas. Dally also brings them the news that Cherry Valance is now being a spy for the greasers, and helping them out against the Socs. She has also testified that Bob was drunk the night of his death and that she was sure that the killing had been in