Something we’ve seen in most of our stories is children being taken care of by people other than their real parents. That is such a common theme that I hadn’t even realized it until we included it in our discussion today in class!
We already decided Tom’s Aunt Polly was almost completely different than Nan Grant from The Lamplighter, in every way except for that she is taking care of a child that is not her own. Also, Aunt Polly seems to have a conscience and feel as though it is now her duty to take care of Tom, because he is her “dead sister’s boy” (p.3). Aunt Polly is struggling internally over her relationship with Tom – if she says something “kind and loving” (p. 25) he will think that she is confessing some bad behavior. However, Aunt Polly also has trouble actually disciplining her nephew, so their relationship is somewhat strained.
This isn’t the first time a stranger has taken in a child not their own, and it’s not the first time we’ve seen the child turn out to be mischievous and somewhat bad behaving because of it. Gerty misbehaved (and broke Nan Grant’s scalp open) but then she behaved like a perfect angel when True Flint, another stranger, took her in.
All of these outsiders have done their share of national parenting, but it didn’t always turn out for the better. I guess the main distinguishing factor that determines the child’s behavior (for the most part) is whether or not the new caretaker has the right intentions. Nan Grant obviously didn’t want to keep Gerty, but True Flint did. Old Hurricane wanted to keep Capitola. I’m not quite sure if Aunt Polly was eager to take Tom Sawyer in, or if she knew it was “the right thing to do”, which is perhaps the reason behind why Tom is so ill-behaved.
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3 comments:
I like how you describe the parenting ways of Aunt Polly and how her and Tom's relationship is sort of skewed. We know she has a good heart and it seems like her conscience to discipline is always kicking in, but she still finds ways to be upset with Tom. I think eventually this relationship is going to start bothering Tom because he might begin to feel mistreated, when it seems like Aunt Polly is always out to get him.
Shannon,
I have been so focused on what a goof ball Tom is, that I had completely forgotten about the aspect of National Parenting. I also had not really considered how Aunt Polly's and Tom's relationship is strained, mostly because she won't discipline him and she is his aunt. It is however, the first time we have seen a caretaker stay the same through out the story, rather than the child obtaining a new one in the text. Maybe we should be considering, also, that Aunt Polly has stuck with Tom this far. But, whatever the case, I really enjoyed your post :)
I like that you chose such a unique subject to pull from each of the stories. The guardians in all of the stories definitely play a vital role in the children's lives.
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