After reading pages 1-97 of A Northern Light, I can already see the making of a great story. The main character Mattie Gokey, lives in a family of 3 sisters, one brother, and her father. The farm life that there family is put through everyday is a lot different then the life of citizens today. Although having great talent, she will have many obstacles in her way, before getting to her dreams.
Looking at the difference between the two life styles, one of a girl's life which is taken place in 1906, and the life of people now, you can notice the huge difference. First off it was clear very difficult to make money then, and things were way cheaper. As an example, when Mattie is contemplating whether or not to buy a note book, "Got to get forty-five cents apiece, I've got some others coming in for fifteen cents in a week or so if you can wait" (71). It is amazing to see that forty-five cents then is a lot of money, and that some people would buy the cheaper fifteen cent notebooks. In the world we live in today, forty-five cents a pop is a great deal, and nearly everyone would get the more expensive one. Clearly the market now is more expensive and jobs provide more money but it is cool to notice the change between the two societies. As you can see the prices are much different then, then they are now, but that is not all that is different, there way of transportation in the streets were different. They rode a machine called buckboards. These devices for example are very plain, and consisted of "just a few planks with a pair of axles nailed on under them, a seat or two, and maybe a wagon box on the top. But plain is what works best" (74). In the world now almost every family in the world has a car, and if is more sufficient then planks, wheels, and a horse. Back in that time period everything was kept simple, and they didn't want to complicate anything more than it had to be.
Mattie being such a great writer, and knowing her vocabulary so well would of course be able to get into college. As most parents in the world today would let there child into college, especially if they are getting to go to school for free. But in Mattie's family it is the other way around. Since her mom died, her father just wants her to stay home and do farm work and manage the house. This is not the life she wants, and she is worried her father will not let her into school, "As soon as she said it, as soon as she talked about my dream like that and brought it out in the light and made it real, I saw only the impossibility of it all. I had a pa who would never let me go" (66). I am very happy for Mattie to have gotten into college with a full ride, and i would be very disappointed to see her dreams torn apart by her father. In the 97 pages I've read in A Northern Light, I can already see the difference of the lives of people now, and people then. I am looking forward to continue reading this book and am ready to see how this predicament is resolved.
I also got a total sense of an overall simpler lifestyle that Mattie is living. Sometimes I feel that the modern day lifestyle is too hectic and rigorous. Sometimes we need to slow down and just enjoy life. Even the transportation is deceptively simple. The “planks” seem almost primitive but the important thing is, it works and it’s reliable. Best of all, it doesn’t run out of gas! When things are kept simple, people learn to appreciate what they have. Eventually I plan on moving to southern Utah and starting a sustenance farm. I always wanted to live a simpler life and eventually I will get it. Utah will be the backdrop of my simple yet fulfilling life after I build up some money by creating new innovative ways of conserving the environment. I want to, as my good friend Lennie Small put it, “live off the fatta the land” (Steinbeck, 105).
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you brought up about how Mattie's father doesn't want her to go to college, and wants her to stay and work on the farm. I know that if I came home saying that a school had accepted me and was offering a free ride, my parents would jump for joy. It really does show how the times are completely different from then to now. You also brought up how Mattie prides herself on vocabulary and she looks up a different word in the dictionary every day. Most kids today would find this extremely boring, but Mattie finds it fun and exciting. I agree, the times were different, but I think we can also say that Mattie is a special child for this. She is the only one in this novel that seems to have a desire to go to college, have an education, and finally leave the farm life that they all seemed destined to live.
ReplyDelete