Essay Questions

How does Mattie’s loss of her mother influence her relationship with Royal?

After losing her mother, Mattie loses one of the only positive female role models in her life, meaning that she’s left with her father and her conservative aunt. Because these are the only adults in her life, they are the people who provide her with knowledge about the world. She is pressured to conform to male expectations for her future, as fueled by her father’s masculine influence, and by conservative female expectations, as fueled by her aunt’s conservatively feminine influence. These influences drive her to pursue a relationship with Royal that will lead to marriage and children, even though that is not what she wants.

What do books represent in Mattie’s life?

Books represent an escape in Mattie’s stifling life. Although she may be forced to work on her parents’ farm and care for her family, all while suffering through the expectations placed on her as a woman in 19th century America, books allow her to escape to distant worlds, even briefly. They also provide her with the ability to educate herself and learn more about the world, which will eventually allow her to go to college and receive a good education. Books aren’t only a psychological escape for Mattie: they provide the opportunity for her to make something of herself despite her status as a woman, and her status as a poor woman.

How do Mattie’s father’s actions reflect traditional gender roles?

Mattie and her siblings are relatively young (young teenagers and older children), when their mother dies. In spite of their young age, Mattie and her sisters are forced to take on the domestic responsibilities of their house (cooking, cleaning, taking care of each other), while their father works. Although their father is a full time farmer and is busy, his lack of initiative in taking care of his daughters reflects the different expectations for men and women in 19th century America. Mattie’s father is a man, which means that he does not do domestic work or nurture his daughters, and does not stop to consider that he might do either.