Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and Carson McCullers’ The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter: Character Struggles
...her sister. Jo changed how she spoke when she bumped into Laurie. She said phrases like “Dear me [and] Shan't I disturb you” (Pg. 30) Jo’s high interest in Laurie’s travels also led her to speak in a lady-like manner “oh, tell me about it! I love dearly to hear people describe their travels” (Pg. 31) However, Laurie’s “bashfulness...forgotten”(Pg. 31) Evidently, Jo swayed the attention towards her sister Meg by praising her. Jo became happy because of the “boyish praise of her sister”(Pg. 31) from Laurie, and quickly Jo felt her boyish behavior seep in as well. • One example of Mick’s sporadic change of identities is when she throws a party. It was Mick’s first time wearing a evening dress, and she even wore “silk teddies..., stockings, Etta’s brassieres, [and] pumps.”(Pg. 107) “She was ashamed [to be] dressed so far ahead of time...so she stood in the middle of the floor. She felt so different...that she knew this would be better than anything else in all her whole life”(Pg. 107) Mick standing in the middle of the floor presents a symbol of her being between a feminine and masculine identity that she cannot quite decide on. The fact that she was anxious to dress up and even put on all the lady-like fashions, showed that Mick is not imperious to the idea of being feminine. Yet “she didn’t feel like herself at all” (Pg. 107) because she was so use to dressing boyish. Thus, she is in the middle and torn between being a girl or a boy. Body #2 • Jo’s and Mick’s struggle with their female identity is also portrayed through their relationships. • In the beginning, Jo and Laurie like each other and spent much time together as well. At the New Year Eve’s party, Jo mentioned that “she liked the Laurence boy” (Pg. 31), and when Laurie was sick he enjoyed Jo’s presence as well. However at the end Jo felt lonely and “despair...house” (Pg. 337) Ultimately Jo’s sister Amy married Laurie. When Laurie told Jo that she was right about her being unsuitable for him, it symbolize Jo struggling with the female identity. Yet instead returning Laurie’s love, Jo pushed away almost as if she did not want a love, or a family because those were identified something a female searches for. When Laurie wanted to “say one thing [to Jo], and then...put it by forever” (Pg. 346), he admitted the love he had for her once and how it has changed from her to Amy. The fact that Laurie confronted Jo about his feelings, symbolizes closure for him and that he wanted to be reassured his decision was the right one. If Jo had said differently, Laurie may have changed his mind. Unfortunately, Jo stood her ground and it seems like she also reassured the decision made. • Mick’s and Harry’s early relationship was between friends. They would also spend much time together and enjoyed each other’s company. One morning they set out for a bike ride, and Harry confessed to Mick that he thought she was “so pretty” (Pg. 273) When Mick lost her virginity, it is often represented as a transition a female pass from being a child to an adult. Furthermore when the topic of marriage came up, “Mick shook her head [and said she] never will may with any boy” (Pg. 275) Mick may have felt strongly that she is a boy at heart and always will be one, and marrying one would be out of the question. Yet having sex with one is not? Ultimately, Harry decides to run away because he fears that his Mother may read it in his eyes (Pg. 276) If Mick would have stopped Harry and expressed her feelings, if any towards him, Harry may have changed his mind to stay. However, Mick just brushed off the idea and degraded the experience they just had. Both girls does not fully accept their female identity, thus they do not experience and understand certain situations that they are confronted with. • However, Jo and Mick do come to different paths they take in their life. One example is their feelings of men and relationships. • As Jo portrays interest in a relationship, Mick does not. At the end, Jo and Professor Bhaer fall in love and they decide to get married. When Bhaer told Jo he had to travel for work, Jo decided to wait for him because the “love one another, and that makes all the rest easy to bear” (Pg. 373) • Nonetheless, Mick “never thought about Harry. She made up her mind to forget him” (Pg. 311) When Harry wrote to Mick, she did not write back with details of herself but “answered with a card saying O.K. as they had planned” (Pg. 311) At the end, Mick never became or thought of getting close to anothe...