Lyddie Essay
Aurora Rininger
Imagine a world where children at the age of thirteen are forced to work against their will for little money. Imagine that situation but the average 13 year old has fought off a bear, had a sibling die, and is prone to sickness at every turn because of their job. All without seeing their family. This is the reality for Lyddie Worthern. In the book, Lyddie by Katherine Patterson a thirteen year old farm girl from Vermont named Lyddie and her brother Charlie are forced to work at jobs to pay off their mother's debts. This is after their mother abandons them taking their two younger siblings. Though Charlie gets sent to a job that he enjoys, Lyddie is forced to work at a tavern where she gets very little pay and very poor care. But once Lyddie decided that she has had enough of the conditions in the …show more content…
Lyddie needs to leave as well as Rachel, Rachel is a child and children as young as her are not allowed in the boarding houses according to page [121] where the book says, “Mrs. Bedlow said the words Lyddie knew were on her mind, ‘It won’t do you know she can’t stay here’”. Rachel is young and she can't work at Lowell for her entire childhood, because that could leave to intense sickness, which could lead to an early death. Working in Lowell would not work anyway for Rachel as seen on page [121] where Lyddie offers Rachel to be a doffer, in which Mrs. Bedlow replies, “You know that she is not old enough or strong enough to be a doffer.” Rachel, with her sister working all of the time, hasn't the ability to do much to further her education and be safe. Especially at the humble age of eight. If Lyddie were to get shorter hours yet higher pay she could spend more of her time taking care of her sister and making sure doesn’t get ill because the possibilities of her getting harmed are
Aurora Rininger
Imagine a world where children at the age of thirteen are forced to work against their will for little money. Imagine that situation but the average 13 year old has fought off a bear, had a sibling die, and is prone to sickness at every turn because of their job. All without seeing their family. This is the reality for Lyddie Worthern. In the book, Lyddie by Katherine Patterson a thirteen year old farm girl from Vermont named Lyddie and her brother Charlie are forced to work at jobs to pay off their mother's debts. This is after their mother abandons them taking their two younger siblings. Though Charlie gets sent to a job that he enjoys, Lyddie is forced to work at a tavern where she gets very little pay and very poor care. But once Lyddie decided that she has had enough of the conditions in the …show more content…
Lyddie needs to leave as well as Rachel, Rachel is a child and children as young as her are not allowed in the boarding houses according to page [121] where the book says, “Mrs. Bedlow said the words Lyddie knew were on her mind, ‘It won’t do you know she can’t stay here’”. Rachel is young and she can't work at Lowell for her entire childhood, because that could leave to intense sickness, which could lead to an early death. Working in Lowell would not work anyway for Rachel as seen on page [121] where Lyddie offers Rachel to be a doffer, in which Mrs. Bedlow replies, “You know that she is not old enough or strong enough to be a doffer.” Rachel, with her sister working all of the time, hasn't the ability to do much to further her education and be safe. Especially at the humble age of eight. If Lyddie were to get shorter hours yet higher pay she could spend more of her time taking care of her sister and making sure doesn’t get ill because the possibilities of her getting harmed are