The Struggle In Lyddie, By Katherine Paterson

In the 1800s, many workers (including men, women and children) had risen above their bosses and supervisors, in the form of petitions, strikes and marches that had took power against the horrid working conditions of that era.
Lyddie, a novel written by Katherine Paterson is a memoir of a fictional character named Lyddie who works in a factory to repay her family's debt which takes place in the industrial revolution. Lyddie is 13-15 in the circumstances of the book, and she is hinted throughout the book to be the only provider for her family at the time. Lyddie is then thrown into situations where she is constantly bombarded with choices. An underlying tone that is presented in the novel is the danger that is presented during her time in the …show more content…
Thus signing the petition would be a great way to confront this. Lyddie has stated several times that her only objective as a human at this point is to work to make money. “She had only two looms to tend to instead of the four she’d tended during the summer. She needed the money. She had to have the money.” During Lyddies time in the factory, she has set a main goal that should not be interrupted by anything else, and this to make money. Because of Lyddies intentions to pay off her family's debt, Lyddie being blacklisted would shatter her goal and her ability to make money. “But we’d be paid less.”, because of Lyddie’s intentions to make money and to care for her family, Lyddie should do everything to keep these factors alive and well. When viewing Lydie’s journey, we see the hopelessness that being blacklisted would do to a person, Lyddie especially states her ideals on the issue. “What would you do with no job, you’d be blacklisted.” If any of the factory girls had lost their jobs, then they would have no other place to make money for themselves and their families. In the time that the novel takes place in, Lyddie has the only concern to make money and to provide for her family, so she needs to protect her position in the factory and her ability to make …show more content…
Lyddie has now realized that she needs to always put her family first. During Lyddies time in the factory, she only cares about getting money for her family and their debt. “She could not fall behind in her production, else her pay would drop...”, Lyddie has been working in dangerous and life threatening conditions, but Lyddie is only worried about paying off her family's debt, and to provide for her family. “She must work harder. She must earn all the money to pay what they owed, so she could gather her family together back on on the farm while she still had family to gather.”, Now that Lyddies only desire in life is to make money for her family and their debt, Lyddie should do everything in her power to complete this. “ It might break her heart to send the child away”, Lyddie as a person is caring, and she has done everything she can to protect her family, so she needs to keep this attitude when working and getting money. Since Lyddie has the greatest intention to do for others, she has done everything she can for her family, so if she were to be blacklisted, this would put her family in danger, and she may be able to pay off their