Does gender really matter?

In many circumstances the gender of the author of the novel will affect the way that the story, characters, meaning, and more will be perceived. Personally there have only been a few novels that I have read where the gender of the author completely affected my outlook and ideas. For some readers the gender of the author is essential but I only agree with this in certain cases. Concerning, Little Lord Fauntleroy, I do not consider the gender of the author necessary or essential to understanding the story or to understanding the characters in the correct light.

Within Children’s literature the ultimate goal was to create guidelines for children to grow up in this new American society even though the basic foundations for children’s literature were challenged all of the time. This novel presents a young boy and the perfect model for a young boy along with the right way for husbands to treat their wives. It is a tale presenting a number of morals and I believe that both men and women would agree on the positive influences the text is trying to create. “His greatest charm was this cheerful, fearless, quaint little way of making friends with people. I think it arose from his having a very confiding nature, and a king little heart that sympathized with every one, and wished to make every one as comfortable as he liked to be himself” (446). The qualities of Ceddie throughout the text are qualities that men and women would want children to obtain throughout their lives. Both men and women authors pay specific attention to details and write novels about morals. “He was above doing anything mean or dishonorable. He would not steal, or cheat, or impose upon younger boys, but was frank and straightforward, manly and self-reliant. His nature was a noble one, and had saved him from all mean faults” (Alger, 342). This short passage from Ragged Dick is one of many where there are detailed descriptions and contain a view of good morals for young children to have and the author could easily be male or female and make no difference. “The way in which the red legs flew and flashed up and down, the shrieks of the boys, the wild efforts of Billy Williams, whose brown legs were not to be despised, as they followed closely in the rear of the red legs, made him feel some excitement” (475). I think this is another passage within our story that shows specific detail but the gender of the author is not necessarily important.

Overall I think the gender of the author and its importance when reading a novel really depends. For some it may be vital and for others it may not make a difference and in this case I do not believe it did. There are definitely a number of novels that I have read that could not have been written if it were instead by a male. Within Little Lord Fauntleroy, I believe the author was creating a character for children and adults to love and identify with in some ways, which the author accomplished regardless of the gender.

Tom Sawyer

Tom Sawyer is an awesome character created by Mark Twain, which was created to draw us in exactly like he does every sentence of this novel. Within class we discussed a variety of challenges this novel brings and a particular favorite of mine was the idea of satire against adults acting like children. Using children as a rhetoric device enables Mark Twain to make comments about the behavior of adults and how it correlates so closely with the behavior of children. We discussed how Adults adore this novel because they are nostalgic for their childhood, it is funny, uses satire to discuss society and it uses children to do this. Tom Sawyer is a novel that allows people to tap into ideas of their past.

“He had been months winning her; she had confessed hardly a week ago; he had been the happiest and the proudest boy in the world only seven short days, and here in one instant of time she had gone out of his heart like a casual stranger whose visit is done. He worshiped this new angel with furtive eye, till he saw that she had discovered him; then he pretended he did not know she was present, and began to “show off” in all sorts of absurd boyish ways, in order to win her admiration” (418). On a side note this was so hilarious and definitely one of my favorite passages throughout the parts of the novel we have read. This is the first time we are presented blatantly with a young boy crushing on girls and to see the interactions of playfulness and flirting between them. Within this passage we also see my two favorite words within this novel, “show off”. Within the second part of our reading on one page it said these words six times. The idea of adult behavior compared to children’s is put into an incredibly hilarious light. Adults are supposed to be grown, gentlemen, women, confident, independent, hard working, and a plethora of other adjectives. As Twain loves to point out adults are attempting to teach their children to grow up in the right environment and in the correct way when they act exactly as they do. On page 434 there are a number of examples one after the other pointing out all different types of adults and how they all resort to childish ways, especially when they want to gain attention. “The young lady teachers “showed off”- bending sweetly over pupils that were lately being boxed, lifting pretty warning fingers at bad little boys and patting good ones lovingly” (434). I love how Twain has used the words pretty to again further make fun of this idea of adult women who are supposed to be motherly and loving and mature while they are still trying to impress everyone just as little girls do who want to be called “good little girls”. “The little girls “showed off” in various ways, and the little boys, “showed off” with such diligence that the air was thick with paper wads and the murmur of scufflings. And above it all the great man sat and beamed a majestic judicial smile upon all the house, and warmed himself in the sun of his own grandeur-for he was “showing off,” too” (434).

All of these passages to me describe what Tom Sawyer is all about. He is the example of the worst little boy who works hard for nothing in his life and gets away with everything by compromising his ways. This book is written for adults to return to their past and to present to their children to hope that they have some of the same experiences growing up so they too can some daylook back and miss the past. Nostalgia is something that happens every day for everyone even if they don’t’ know it and this novel taps into this idea. It also allowed Mark Twain to make some incredibly funny jokes about adult life and the perceived notions people have. Just because we grow old doesn’t mean we stop playing and stop acting as a child. No matter what we do as we grow older we still retain an inner child that pops out when we least expect it.

Ragged Dick

Ragged Dick is awesome and a completely new spin on children’s literature because it is the “guide book” for little boys instead of little girls. The criteria for being a good little boy and a good little girl are completely different on the independence and appearance side of things. For one, Dick, our little hero boy, is hilarious. Lets compare this with Ellen, who throws temper tantrums like Gerty and is not very funny at all. Within Ragged Dick we are given a glance at what is important in a boys life as he grows up to become a man in American society at this time.

Ellen, Gerty, and even our lighthearted Capitola were never expected to work or to be good workers. Within Ragged Dick we are immersed into a world where young boys are required to do work to make their living and provide solely for themselves. “Being an enterprising young man, he thought he saw a chance for a speculation, and determined to avail himself of it” (360). Dick does not have a choice of taking every piece of business he can and he has learned throughout his years as a vagabond boy living in the streets to be enthusiastic, ambitious, outgoing, and ultimately hard working. “That boy,” soliloquized Dick, as Johnny took his departure, “aint got no ambition. I’ll bet he won’t get five shines to-day. I’m glad I aint like him. I couldn’t go to the theatre, nor buy no cigars, nor get half as much as I wanted to eat” (351). This passage shows a variety of things pertaining to the differences of young girls and boys. Girls would never be allowed to have a “night life” or to smoke cigars while Ragged Dick does all of these things at such an early age. It also shows how important ambition is in the world Dick lives in because without there will be no income, meaning no food, shelter, or clothing. No matter what situation our characters were in they were provided for and did not have to work. I have mentioned Dicks faults and defects because I want it understood, to begin with, that I don’t consider him a model boy. But there were some good points about him nevertheless. He was above doing anything mean or dishonorable. He would not steal, or cheat, or impose upon younger boys, but was frank and straight-forward, manly and self-reliant. His nature was a noble one, and had saved him from all mean faults” (342). I love how the author laid out that Dick is not perfect but that is why we will like him and that the stand out amazing qualities his does have override all the other ones, such as appearance.

Our author immediately points out that yes Dick is our hero but he does have some faults, like his attire and need to not be clean. “He had no particular dislike to dirt, and did not think it necessary to remove several dark streaks on his face and hands” (336). This novel completely contradicts the previous novels we have read where the girls appearance is incredibly important. When Capitola was found dressing as a boy it was against the law and her Old Hurricane had her dressed nicely immediately. Ragged Dick gives us a completely new and exciting story of a young funny boy that shows how important ambitions and good morals are. Being a hard worker and having good morals rises above the materialistic things we have seen in literature pertaining to little girls.