ipl-logo

Making Decisions In Lyddie By Katherine Paterson

765 Words4 Pages

In Katherine Paterson’s novel, “Lyddie”, the main character must survive and make decisions that will affect her and how she lives. Lyddie was a thirteen year old girl, and her father had left the family. While Lyddie’s mother and younger siblings had gone to their aunt’s home for the winter, Lyddie and her brother Charlie decide stay to take care of it. However, during Spring, both Lyddie and Charlie were demanded to go to work to pay off their family's debts. Lyddie is taken to a tavern of which she meets Triphena ( the cook ) and Mrs. Cutler. Moreover, Lyddie returns from a secret trip, and in result, she is told that she has been fired. Lyddie ( at this time ) is now adventuring off to become a factory girl being told she could make a …show more content…

Lyddie is already making more money than the other factory girls, and through the summer, in Chapter 12 ( I will Not be a Slave ) everyone in the factory work extremely hard, however, Lyddie is putting in greater effort than everyone else. With most factory girls gone, Lyddie is even more dedicated and this is shown through how much she gets paid. “The pay reflected her proficiency. She was making almost $2.50 a well above her $1.75 board. While the other girls grumbled that their piece rates had dropped so that it had hardly been worth slaving…” ( Paterson, p. 86) The implication is, Lyddie is not paid by the hour, but also from how much fabric she makes. Other factory girls are not even increasing their pay, in fact their pay is only lowering. In addition to the other girls not even going to budge working because of their low pay, Lyddie has a chance to get the money she needs to reunite with her family. Therefore, if Lyddie were to sign the petition, her pay will only decrease. Lyddie is already making a good amount of money, signing the petition will only slow her down, and even worse, Lyddie could be dismissed leaving her with debt. Making the decision to avoid signing the petition is the most logical decision, because Lyddie is making a good amount of pay and signing the petition can/will only result in

Show More
Related

  • History Of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factor Fire Of 1911

    671 Words  | 3 Pages

    If a worker whined about their low wage or the long hours spent working they would be fired, and the owners would hire a new worker. Most of the time the workers didn’t get any time off for breaks or even going to the bathrooms. It wasn’t just young women who had to work in the harsh factory conditions. Children also worked in the factory because their families need

    Read More

  • Rex And Rose Mary Walls In Battle Mountain By Jeanette Walls

    771 Words  | 4 Pages

    Life had never been easy for Jeanette Walls, growing up she consistently faced several forms of adversity at the hands of her parents, such as hunger, sexual assault, practical homelessness, and abuse. With so many tribulations, one would expect her to have become another low income statistic. However, just like a mountain goat, who does not actually belong to the goat family, Jeanette is of a different breed. While her parents exposed her to many harsh realities, they also instilled many important life lessons, whether they were aware of it or not. If it weren't for Rex and Rose Mary Walls, Jeanette would not have been as tough, driven, or creative enough to have survived in Manhattan.

    Read More

  • Lyddie By Katherine Paterson: Character Analysis

    752 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyday, everybody makes decisions, some turn out great and others face harsh consequences. This was true for Lyddie Worthen who exists only in the mind of the author of the book Lyddie, Katherine Paterson. Lyddie is a young girl whose family is in some big debt, due to her father leaving to find riches. Her mother takes her sisters and sends Lyddie to a tavern and her brother to a mill. After a while at the tavern, she took an unauthorized vacation and got fired in the process.

    Read More

  • Lizzie Bright And The Buckminster Boy Sparknotes

    496 Words  | 2 Pages

    The theme in this novel is to be honest and be kind to others. Don't let things that people say hurt you and don't let people bring you down. Turner and Lizzie are good examples of being kind and nice. This novel is a great example of how people can be treated and how people shouldn’t be treated.

    Read More

  • What Is Lyddie Essay

    853 Words  | 4 Pages

    Girls from Lowell, Massachusetts, worked hard for around 14 hours each day in dust and lint filled air in the mid 1800’s. In the book, “Lyddie”, by Katherine Paterson; the main character, Lyddie, is one of the girls from the factory. Lyddie is a young teenage girl who grew up on a farm in Vermont with her mom and her three younger siblings. Her dad left her at a young age which caused her mom to go crazy, leaving Lyddie in charge of taking care of the rest of the family. Her dad left her family with so much debts making her have to rent out the farm and work at Lowell.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Good Country People By Flannery O Connor

    836 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are a few characters that we need to get to know before we analyze this text. First we have Mrs. Hopewell: a southern lady who was recently divorced and runs a farm by herself. Next we have Hulga: a 32 old woman who is the daughter of Mrs. Hopewell, Her real name is Joy which she changed legally to Hulga. She has a PhD in philosophy and is constantly mocked by her mother for it. She also has a wooden leg, which she lost when she was nine years old in a hunting accident.

    Read More

  • The Need Of Life In Katherine Paterson's Lyddie

    757 Words  | 4 Pages

    And what was she to do with Rachel?”(122) Lyddie worked hard for the money she needed to go back home. When she finds out she can’t even do that, she doesn’t know what to do. Even though she doesn’t know what to do now, she should not sign the petition! She instead should wait it out until she knows what to do.

    Read More

  • Kids Working In The Factories Dbq Essay

    752 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the industrial age many laws were enacted as of late, because of the rise and fall of companies taking power from government and state, many laws common place in the modern world, at that time were slowly gaining weight and of the time were detritus to the human society. As of what Elizabeth Bentley was questioned on, “C: You are considerably deformed in person as a consequence of this labor? B: Yes I am" (doc. 7). Kids working in the factories, one by one, suffered the consequences, and melancholy atmosphere that had personified the liabilities upon their human nature, burning through the skin, the bones, and the muscle that worked long hours, for the minimal sum. That minimal sum would only be a small fraction of the amount needed to feed and pay the expenses of the family.

    Read More

  • Child Labor Laws In Katherine Paterson's Lyddie

    813 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is a petition going around that supports going on a strike and Lyddie doesn 't know if she should sign it. Some people believe that Lyddie should not sign the petition because she is less likely to lose her job or more importantly, money. Lyddie should sign the petition because if she does, her work could become safer

    Read More

  • How Does Mary Alice Change In A Long Way From Chicago Essay

    484 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel “A Long Way from Chicago” by Richard Peak, Grandma Dowdel gets to spend one week for seven year in the summer taking care of her grand kids. Mary Alice visit Grandma Dowdel from the year of 1929 to the year of 1935. In the beginning, Mary Alice didn’t want to visit Grandma and she keep on getting nightmare but, later on, she kind of miss Grandma There are three examples of Mary Alice changing throughout the seven years with grandma.

    Read More

  • Technology In The Veldt By Ray Bradbury

    745 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lydia, the mother, started to feel insignificant because the house was doing everything that a wife would do. Lydia says, “This house is wife and mother now, and nursemaid. Can I compete with an African veldt?... I cannot.” In addition, the father, George, takes drugs because he feels unnecessary.

    Read More

  • Everything I Never Told You Theme

    622 Words  | 3 Pages

    ” Life goes on in the Lee household, and eventually Lydia finds herself a sophomore in high school. Her parents push her to take advanced, rigorous courses, and although her parents are under the impression that Lydia is a happy girl at school with lots of friends and adequate grades, they are wrong. She is actually very lonely, and her friends only use her for homework. Her grades are severely slipping as well. Since Lydia does not share these feelings with her parents, they weigh her down.

    Read More

  • Lydia Bennet Dishonest

    144 Words  | 1 Pages

    Lydia Bennet, the youngest out of the five sisters in the Bennet family, was known to be ecstatic, flirtatious, confident, and a boy-crazy teenager. Lydia always finds a way to get herself into situations, and unconscious because her father payed no heed, while she is favoured by her mother. Lydia came across and man named Mr. Wickham, who comes from a poor family and seems to be a perfect gentleman unlike the other men. He turns out to be a womanizer, dishonest, a gambler, and a foe to the Bennet family. The great dismay of her upbringing led to “neither Lydia’s virtue nor her understanding would preserve her from falling easy prey.”

    Read More

  • Choosing Her Path Summary

    1028 Words  | 5 Pages

    The title of a book by Stella Simmons, “Choosing Her Path,” appropriately depicts the significance of the story. Stella Simmons, an ex-medical technologist, retired early and went into the elementary school system. She then became a volunteer and assisted with reading fluency and comprehension. Since then she has written six children books and “Choosing Her Path” is her second book for young adults. She writes books because she enjoys writing.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Realism In Hedda Gabler

    1720 Words  | 7 Pages

    “Just fancy, if any one should come and see it,” Hedda says. A portrait of her decorous father hangs in her home to remind her of the traditional values she is expected to uphold. Hedda’s repressed longings embroil her in conflict after she learns that Løvborg has sworn off alcohol and struck up an amiable relationship with a woman Hedda loathes, Thea Elvsted, a childhood acquaintance who is now the wife of a sheriff. Hedda wants Løvborg but refuses to allow herself to have him.

    Read More

More about Making Decisions In Lyddie By Katherine Paterson

Open Document