THE WOMEN IN 'LITTLE WOMEN'

Little Women is my second-favourite book. My first impression of the main character, Jo March, was not a good one. I watched the 1970 adaptation before reading the book, and at the time, I didn't realise it was based on a novel. While I appreciated that Jo was a bookworm and an aspiring writer like me, her unladylike, brash personality and tomboyishness, along with her initial resentment towards her brother-in-law after he revealed his feelings for her older sister Meg, made her an unlikable clod.

However, after reading the book later on, I got to know her better. I admired her determination to write good stories, as well as her desire to provide for her family and achieve financial independence. I related to her in many ways, and she became a source of motivation for me. I also recognised her struggles to control her temper and become more patient. Ultimately, Jo accepted her destiny to be Professor Bhaer's wife and run a school for boys with him, which was a departure from the independent life of a writer that she had long envisioned.

Meg is the firstborn and the beauty of the family. She serves as the mother hen of the group—very dutiful while longing for ‘better times.’ She ultimately realises that love is far more precious than excessive wealth. Interestingly, her wealthy friend Sally Moffat ends up envying her for her happy home, devoted husband, and beautiful twins.

Amy, the youngest, is a budding artist and initially comes across as a strong-willed, self-centered  spoiled brat. I will never forget the chapter in which she burned Jo's manuscript during a quarrel between them. It’s a wonder she wasn’t punished more severely! However, to my amazement and delight, she later matures in ways I never thought possible.

And there was sweet, shy Beth, the third daughter and Jo's pet, who did so much and asked for so little and the chapter 'In The Valley Of The Shadow'; Miss Alcott wrote in great detail of her death, how 'the tide went easily'; a chapter that still brings tears to my eyes whenever I read it.  Beth's death was such a huge loss, and it broke my heart.

It's a lovely and classic coming-of-age story told along the lines of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, showing how Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy went through several stages and encountered different challenges, lessons and experiences as they moved from girls to women. What I liked especially about this book was how despite their poverty and having to work hard half the time, was how they were able to create their fun; led by Jo, they staged plays and formed their version of 'The Pickwick Club' and formed their own 'post office'- their rich but lonely neighbour Laurie Laurence (who fell in love with Jo but after her wise rejection, fell in love and married Amy) joining in and playing 'brother' to them, gaining his maturity along the way, which was good as he needed it. He did not gain just from the girls but also from their wise and loving mother, Mrs March, who kept the family together as best as she could while Mr March was away at the Civil War and gave her daughters and Laurie precious pieces of wisdom. At the end of the book, she and her husband saw the fruit of their labour; Meg, Jo and Amy being a huge credit to them. As for Laurie, he too had to learn some sharp lessons, including how two people who were TOO much alike, like he and Jo, wouldn't make a good marriage, hence his better yet unlikely pairing with the now mature Amy.

Little Women has two sequels, Little Men and Jo's Boys, also good reads. But Little Women, to me, is the best of the series- reading it makes the reader feel like a silent observer of the March girls' lives as they follow each stage of their 'coming of age'.

Quote from the book:

"My child, the troubles and temptations of your life are beginning, and may be many; but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one. The more you love and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will depend on human power and wisdom. His love and care never tire or change, cannot be taken from you, but may become the source of lifelong peace, happiness, and strength. Believe this heartily, and go to God with all your little cares, and hopes, and sins, and sorrows, as freely and confidingly as you come to your mother.”