Not all people were lucky enough to grow up in a loving family with both their mother and father, some people were put in bad living situations or sold of as child workers. In Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train, the idea of giving children a new home was a good one, unfortunately the trains and how this situation played out was an awful idea. The trains put the children in terrible situations when they easily could have stayed at the orphanage and waited until a family actually wanted them. Vivian moved around and ended up staying at many different homes, her life was altered by each of these places and all she faced was disappointment until she was no longer under the control of the people running the train organization.They put the children
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When giving away these children, no background checks were ever done because this was the first time anyone in the system had met any of the potential parents. “ A simple matter of paperwork […] is all that stands between you and one of the children on this stage (Baker Kline 64), this was all they had to fill out and since they didn't know the people they could lie on their form and a unsuitable families could have taken the children home. “ There is paperwork, but not a lot” (Baker Kline 116), Mr. Sorensen says as he drops Dorothy off at the Grotes, a family they know nothing about. The children were placed blindly into homes that people weren't sure of the conditions in. If you were to adopt a child in this day and age, you have to go through may months of paperwork and security clearances with house visits to make sure that you are a suitable family. Not checking the homes before the children arrived was a terrible decision, they made this children sleep in filth and no one would know. “ In the [one] bedroom, three old mattresses without sheets[…] laid across the floor, a carpet of bony springs (Baker Kline 119). These conditions were horrible and if they had come to their house before letting them adopt her, they would have know about this and been able to find her a better place to live. Even if they checked back and found out they were a horrible family, they could take the children and bring them back to the orphanage because at least the conditions would be
When giving away these children, no background checks were ever done because this was the first time anyone in the system had met any of the potential parents. “ A simple matter of paperwork […] is all that stands between you and one of the children on this stage (Baker Kline 64), this was all they had to fill out and since they didn't know the people they could lie on their form and a unsuitable families could have taken the children home. “ There is paperwork, but not a lot” (Baker Kline 116), Mr. Sorensen says as he drops Dorothy off at the Grotes, a family they know nothing about. The children were placed blindly into homes that people weren't sure of the conditions in. If you were to adopt a child in this day and age, you have to go through may months of paperwork and security clearances with house visits to make sure that you are a suitable family. Not checking the homes before the children arrived was a terrible decision, they made this children sleep in filth and no one would know. “ In the [one] bedroom, three old mattresses without sheets[…] laid across the floor, a carpet of bony springs (Baker Kline 119). These conditions were horrible and if they had come to their house before letting them adopt her, they would have know about this and been able to find her a better place to live. Even if they checked back and found out they were a horrible family, they could take the children and bring them back to the orphanage because at least the conditions would be