Corporal Punishment In Louisa May Alcott's Little Women

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In Louisa May Alcotts Little Women, the subject of learning a lesson is addressed when Amy is caught with limes in her desk at school. Mr. Davis has stated he never lets his rules to be broken, and that he never breaks his word (Pg 65). However, does the act of striking Amys palm with a ruler justify her crime and how does Amy learn a lesson from this? However, it is clear that Marmee and Mr. Davis both have different opinions on the appropriate ways to teach children lessons, while Mr. Davis prefers corporal punishment which does not provide a learning experience, Marmee prefers a more gentle approach that also serves as a learning experience. Although Amy broke the rules by bringing contraband into the school, and because of Jenny Snow tattling to Mr. Davis about the limes hidden in her desk, Amy doesn’t deserve the type of punishment that she received. While Amy did deserve some type of punishment for breaking the rules Corporal punishment is not a warranted form of discipline. On top of which, Mr. Davis then further humiliates Amy by making her stand in front of the class until dismissal. Nevertheless, the punishment …show more content…

Daviss approach to discipline is very different from that in the book. The main difference being that Mr. Davis simply makes Amy stand at the front of the class with her slate reading “I am ashamed of myself”. He then threatens to pay a visit to Mrs. March and show her the scribblings on her slate instead of doing her lessons. However, he never hits or threatens to hit her as a form of punishment. In the 1949 version, Amy again stands at the front of the class with her slate, but in this version, Mr. Davis threatens to physically discipline Amy. However, he never follows through with his threat and simply dismisses her. In the 1994 version, Mr. Davis is only mentioned by Amy and never seen. However, in this version Mr. Davis stays true to the book and physically strikes Amy with a ruler across her

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