Fever 1793
Mattie is the main character in Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. In the beginning of the book Polly the serving girl dies of an unknown plague leaving Philadelphia in shock. As grandfather and Mattie return to the coffeehouse they find Mother lying ill with the yellow fever. Later on Mattie and grandfather leave the coffeehouse as an order from Mother but soon return after they both are kicked out the wagon and they fall ill with the yellow fever causing many deaths. As the days come to an end Mattie is left alone to care for herself after grandfather passes. Mattie is a dynamic character in Fever 1793 after being faced with many challenges the epidemic brought her. Throughout the story Mattie become more independent, mature,
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When reading the first chapters of the story Mattie relies on everyone but herself. She only wakes up to the sound of Mother yelling at her.Throughout the first few chapters she refuses to do most things around the coffeehouse even though she saids she would like to be treated more like an adult. On page 8 chapter 2, Mattie said “ She set a stack of coffee beans on the table...I’m starving I said clutching my stomach...As usual she said with a smile... Let me get you something quick”(Anderson 8). As the reader can see at the time Mattie isn’t capable nor willing to care for herself, she expects other people to do that for her. As the book continues Mattie changes dramatically into an independent person. The readers are able to see this when grandfather is left ill and she goes out to look for food. In addition the fever epidemic has caused great discouragement to Mattie as grandfather and her return to the coffeehouse and Mattie sees the coffeehouse a mess after they have been robbed. One quote that fits with Matties dynamic change is on page 133 chapter 18 Mattie said “ Sprinkled parsley and sweet thyme into the water...While the soup cooked, I swept the kitchen floor clean of the broken crockery”(Anderson 133). On the other hand the things that happened throughout the fever epidemic have caused her to take better care of her and grandfather after all their food had been stolen. Mattie’s dramatic changes causes her to realize …show more content…
In the beginning of the book Mattie is always being told what to do, when to wake up, how to do her chores, etc. This causes her to be unreliable as well as immature when she takes her anger out on her cat Silas. Mattie also tended to mumble things under her breath. This demonstrates to the reader that Mattie isn’t good with handling her problems. In the book on page 53 chapter 17 it saids “ I stood so quickly that the seams under my arms ripped open with a snarl...It’s not a tavern, it’s a coffeehouse”(Anderson 17). To sum up the quote Mattie gets offended and deals with it in an immature way, which leads to her standing up and yelling across the table. When the story starts to pick up Mattie finds herself in a situation causing her to become more like a mother figure. This happens when she finds Nell and cares for her. When Mattie finds Nell, Nell is in a house alone as her mother lays dead on the bed. Mattie knows that Nell doesn’t know what is happening so she takes her. Mattie even said that they need each other causing Mattie to mature in a situation like that. On page 179 chapter 23 it saids “ Nell climbed in my lap and fell asleep sucking her thumb...I worked the knots out of her hair slowly and gently”(Anderson 179). This quote has changed Mattie to being the character she was in the story. Mattie somewhat adopted Nell into her family as she has matured
She did that because it showed how someone can lose most of their family and still keep moving. Nell was a little girl that had lost her mother and whole rest of her family due to yellow fever. Mattie took her in and she had been her special person for a while. Eliza and Mother Smith wanted to take her to the orphanage because she was so young and said that she couldn't take care of her since Mattie was only a teenager. But as soon as they reached the orphanage, Eliza said: “Seems she is better off with you Mattie” (183). The orphanage was so crowded and had so many children that Eliza realized that she would be better off with her special person. Eliza didn't want to break up Mattie and Nell since they were both helping each other. That is why Eliza, Nell, and Mattie all cared and helped each other to have a great
In the beginning Grandfather refuses to believe there is a fever until it hit them mother falls ill and they are forced to flee Mattie try’s to stay but mother and grandfather and Eliza force her to go this kills Mattie. But she must go. Grandfather finds a wagon but soon they get kicked off. Mattie finds food but soon realizes that they need more then she falls ill. Mattie wakes in bush hill ( a hospital for the ones with fever) She insists on leaving but is not well enough to go.
The stereotypes of the elderly are influencing Mattie's life. She is telling herself not to do things because of her age whether or not she is physically able to do them, simply because people associate age with inability and dependence upon others. Her family and friends are expecting and encouraging this dependence.
This is challenging Mattie because she has a choice, act back our keep it inside her and be the more mature one. One more example of this is, “Jeannine saw my dilemma, picked up the plate, and passed it in the opposite direction to her mother”(49). Again this is another chance where Mattie can either act out or keep her composure. I think that these problems that Mattie has faced have helped mature her into an adult, “I stood so quickly that the seams under my arms ripped open with a snarl. The dog barked shrilly. ‘It’s not a tavern, it’s a coffee house!’”(53) This helps Mattie mature because she is building a tolerance for annoying people (like the Ogilvies). Also it shows she will stick up for her family business. That is another conflict Mattie is presented with out of many in this
Matilda Cook is an adventurous and independence seeking 14-year old girl. Although she always being pestered by her mother, Mattie loves her mother dearly and worries when her mother does not return home after going the the Luddington’s farm. Mattie struggle with
After her and Ethan Frome’s wreck though, she becomes what Zeena was and experiences what she went through. She becomes that resentful and despaired person, that the younger version of Mattie is majorly differentiated from. At the end, irony is displayed because Zeena seems to regain some of her health and beauty while Mattie lost all of hers.
Mattie does not beat around the bush when it comes to justice. She has a fixed view on how law should be carried out against Tom Chaney and stops at nothing to achieve this. Put simply, Mattie wants him dead, and she wants him to know that he is dying as a result of him killing her father. This view and interpretation of justice closely resembles the “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” philosophy of the Code of Hammurabi where the life of Tom Chaney must be payed for
Anderson teaches many lessons in her novel but among the most important is taught by showing the many steps Mattie took to reach full independence. She began as a bratty teenager with her head in the clouds, and ended as an independent woman with dreams and aspirations. She discovers her identity and while her situation is out of the ordinary, she proves that aging and revealing your true personality can make the difference between life and death. In the beginning of the novel, Mattie feels that she should be praised whenever she does something for someone else. For example, in the beginning of the book on page 3 it says, “I made a face at the doorway. I had just saved her precious quilt from disaster, but would she appreciate it? Of course not.” This demonstrates that Mattie wants perpetual praise from others, an expectation that children often possess. Mattie is also too young to understand the responsibilities that come with adulthood. This is evident in the novel when Mattie is dreaming of a future with no responsibility. Mattie
In the book Mattie is definitely a strong character. When Taylor meets Mattie she is surprised. Back in Pittman, where Taylor is from a woman would never own and run a tire store all by herself. Mattie may not be gaining much
Mattie is now in the initiation step of the journey, where she will go through four parts; the first part is the challenges and the second is the abyss. Anywhere that Mattie went she faced challenges as how the hero’s journey’s writes, “Whichever direction the voyage takes… [she] puts [herself] more and more at risk, emotionally and physically…. always seem to strike the initiate’s greatest weakness: [her] poorest skills… [Her] most vulnerable emotions” (Harris and Thompson 51). A challenge that we see Mattie puts herself at risk and show her weakness is when see faces Tom Chaney and says,
Mattie is the older character in this book that was owned “Jesus is Lord Tires” and was a character that acted as a mother to multiple characters. “She looked at me the way Mama would have,” (Kingsolver 252). This quote was found near the end of the book that signified Mattie looking at Taylor and Taylor observing that look and thinking that it is similar to her real mother’s. Mattie gave some money to Taylor for the trip and Taylor refused to take it, so Mattie said that it was for everyone in the car and gave her the look that reminded Taylor of her biological mother. “’I’ve got some peanut butter crackers,’ Mattie said leaning over Turtle. ‘Will she eat peanut butter?’,” (Kingsolver 252). Mattie seemed worried about Turtle and offered her something to eat. She acted as a mother figure to Turtle because she fed her and gave her more food when Turtle hinted for it. Mattie was the one that fit as a mother figure to a lot of characters in the book. She was the person that led a sanctuary and was the one who took care of the many.
Edith Wharton uses Mattie to express isolation and being lonely. She comes to the country with ribbons in her hair and more joy in herself. She wanted to free Ethan from the terrible society he lived in. Life in Starkfield is bleak and boring. No one comes outside or enjoys themselves. This is mainly why Ethan wants to escape the barren and poor neighborhood. Ethan is also isolated as well. He opposes society mainly because he cannot be with the one he loves and he doesn’t want to ruin his marriage to Zeena as well. When Zeena falls ill, she goes to the doctor for a couple of days and returns only to find her expensive china now ruined. Angry, she tells Ethan that she needs more hired help and plans to send Mattie away. Upset, Ethan did not know what to do . He decided to write a letter to Zeena telling her to run the farm and be by herself. However, he
Later on the story Mattie experiences her grandfather?s death, which taught her to stand up for herself. After all of the hardships that Mattie and Grandfather faced out on their own, they came back to a Philadelphia very unalike the one they had left, and their coffeehouse home was no different. It was completely robbed of almost everything and shards of glass were everywhere. Although this did not stop two thieves from coming in and killing grandfather when he tried to fight back. Mattie did not take this well however. After Grandfather fainted, she gashed the robber?s shoulder with her granddad?s sword which sent him running down the street with Mattie chasing him close behind. This event clearly shows that Mattie learned to stand up for herself against higher authority, which is a big part of adulthood.
PARA 2: Miss Eva Turner plays a vital role in Mattie's life by taking her in during her loneliness and destitution and treating Mattie and Basil as if they are her own family.
At the beginning of the story, Mattie is a normal girl living in the glorious city of Philadelphia. Soon a fever outbreak appears and starts to frighten the people of the capitol. “ Some doctors warn we may see a thousand dead before it's over. There are forty thousand people living in Philadelphia, William. Can you imagine if one in forty were to die?”(59). Clearly the people of Philadelphia were terrified. As the story moves along, this fever begins to create a devastating mess in the city of Philadelphia, “ They say bodies are piling up like firewood” (64). This illustrates the nervous fear of the