Essay Questions

How does Philip Gray's character develop or change through the novel?

Philip begins the novel as a very self-assured young man, but he rejects all form of assistance from adults. He insists on paying for the accommodation he receives from Joe Tucker, he refuses Farmer Lovett's offer of a cash reward, and he will not accept even so much as a meal by way of charity. However he gradually starts to accept help from others when he recognizes that he is not becoming a burden. It begins when he accepts rides from people who are going in the direction he wants to go. It continues when he accepts help from Mr. Gates and others to catch Riccabocca. By the end of the novel, he is willing to accept appropriate guardianship and help from Alexander Taylor, in the form of education.

Philip gradually becomes less naïve. He begins the novel by being willing to accept people's explanations of why they are doing what they are doing, and believes in their good intentions. This is why he is not initially suspicious of Riccabocca. After Riccabocca robs him, Philip learns from his experience and does not extend trust blindly again. When he travels with the less responsible Henry, he does not allow Henry to handle the money. Philip becomes more confident in his ability to support himself as he sees example after example of his success as a musician. However he never becomes overconfident.

The student should probably not say that Philip develops the ability to stand up for himself and to be his own advocate; this is a trait Philip displays in his first conversation with Squire Pope.

Compare and contrast Squire Benjamin Pope and Alexander Taylor.

Both men are wealthy and influential. Both have younger relatives and family members. Both encounter Philip Gray after he has achieved some financial success, and both men offer mentorship and guardianship to Philip, who is an orphaned minor.

Squire Pope is a vain and selfish man who seeks to control Philip simply because he is used to getting his own way. After Philip's father dies, Squire Pope helps to kidnap Philip and put him in the town almshouse to be housed at public expense. He is easily manipulated into trying to take Philip's violin from him and into ignoring ongoing abuses at the almshouse. Although he sets himself out as Philip's guardian, he is obviously incompetent. After Philip starts making money and supporting himself, Squire Pope tries to take Philip's earnings. Squire Pope has no respect whatsoever for Philip and regards him first as an ignorant minor who must be controlled and then as somebody to be used for Pope's own benefit.

Alexander Taylor is a New York stockbroker who is very wealthy. He meets Philip only after the violinist has been self-supporting for some time. Philip takes charge of Taylor's wayward son Henry and brings him home safely, paying his expenses along the way. He has a great deal of respect for Philip and never seeks to control or exploit him. Instead, he offers him education. By this point Philip has matured enough to recognize and accept the opportunity.

Philip's violin is a frequent source of conflict when other people try to take it away. Why are they trying to take it away, and why is it so important to Philip to keep the violin? What does it symbolize?

The violin symbolizes Philip's independence, and it is also an emotional connection to his recently deceased father. By making music for other people to dance to or to enjoy, Philip is able to support himself. Sometimes he exchanges music for room and board; other times he plays for payment at a country dance. He even gives a few concerts and public performances.

There are three incidents in the novel when people try to take Philip's violin away. Nick Holden tries to force Philip to sell it to him because Nick is clueless enough to think it will make him more popular with young women his age. Squire Pope tries to take the violin and have it sold at auction out of pure spite, because he believes Philip is not being submissive enough or grateful enough for his "assistance" in putting Philip into the poorhouse. Mr. Gunn wants Philip to be forced to sell the violin to pay the debts left behind by Mr. Riccabocca, Philip's partner in business. All three of these antagonists are short-sighted enough to be willing to deprive Philip of the means to earn his living, provided they get what they want immediately. Their desire to serve their immediate needs or wants at Philip's expense is what creates the conflict.

How are female characters presented in The Young Musician?

There are two general categories of female characters in this novel, but both exist solely to interact with the main character or the male characters.

The first general category of female character is the "ineffective female", who exists only to showcase the relative effectiveness of the male characters. The mealy-mouthed Almira Pope has an opportunity to defend Philip and to object to her husband's plot to put Philip in the poorhouse, but she does not. The thirteen-year-old Jenny Taylor exists chiefly to respond positively to both Philip and Henry, and to be lectured by her father about how Henry needs to learn a rough lesson and come home of her own accord. The various wives of Frank Dunbar and the farmers who employ Philip are not even named. They exist solely to serve food to the men and to be gratified and complimented when the food they serve is eaten. Importance-wise, they are a form of mobile furniture.

The second general category of female character is the "manipulative female". She does not take direct overt action against any male who is awake, but she is sneaky and manipulative enough to take negative action when a male character is asleep. Abigail Tucker is domineering and sarcastic to her husband, forcing him to go and see whether they are being robbed, and she is willing to steal the dime out of her son Zeke's pocket believing it is hers, but she does not take antagonistic action toward Philip. Instead, she acts through the male characters around her. This behavior is echoed by Miss Snodgrass, an impertinent young woman of about eighteen who flirts unabashedly with Philip and who orders her boyfriend about and criticizes him until he is willing to do what she wants. Plot-wise, the most a female character can do in a Horatio Alger novel is to inspire a male character to take action. Even the nameless maid who spots the fleeing Lorenzo Riccabocca does not chase him. She questions him, realizes he is running away, and manipulates the houseboy Sam into following him.