Sent to board at Miss
Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, Sara is devastated when her
adored father dies. Suddenly penniless, Sara is banished to an attic
room where she is starved, abused, and forced to work as a servant. How
this exceptionally intelligent girl uses the only resources available to
her, imagination and friendship, to overcome her situation and change
her fortunes is at the centre of this enduring classic. First published in 1905, A Little Princess is a heart-warming tale of hope, hardship and love set against a backdrop of Victorian England, and is one of the best-loved stories in all of children's literature.
Comment: This is a small book which I wanted to read for a long time. I finally got the book and read it very quickly, not only because it is small but also because it was very easy to read and want to know how it would end.
In this classic story, better known for its public target audience, children, we meet Sara Crewe whose father brings her from India to stay at a girls' school in England. Sara is a wonderful child, with many virtues and also wealth and the love of her father. At first, her time at school is filled with the usual routines and relationships, even though the owner of the school isn't too fond of Sara, since she is wiser beyond her young years.
However, things change when the news of Sara's father death and the complete loss of his fortune reaches the school. Suddenly, Sara goes from favorite student to servant and her position is altered beyond possibility. But Sara is a princess inside, she never loses her empathy, her caring, her dedication, her friendly and fair personality... she is ready to endure what life is throwing at her until a benefactor starts to leave some surprised for Sara. Could it be that fate has something else to bestow on Sara, to suit her loving and good heart?
Who is to say adults cannot appreciate and be touched by children's literature? I liked this story a lot for two reasons: it did make me think about my childhood and all the innocent and easy thoughts of those days and because it can only be a good thing to read about friendly people overcoming bad things and become even better people.
Of course, through the eyes of an adult, the way this happened is just too fantasy-like to be really accepted, but that's fiction for you: the hope in something good.
I'd say the biggest issue, besides the dated elements of a story written when it was (1905), is the fact there are some unfair representations in this book and the main character, Sara, doesn't really evolve nor grows up. Even in the midst of much difficulty, she remains positive, she remains confident n her own self and her own abilities over others. She does not do this out of malice, for she doesn't have it; but she is too perfect.
We can now read this as its intended lesson: if children are good, if they behave and if they are witty and good-natured, then there will be a reward. Things aren't simplistic like this in real life, but the aim here is to teach, to shape and idea of good behavior into those who might not really be such way. By comparing this story with the other famous one by this author, The Secret Garden, one can say the main character in both is very similar except in personality. What to think when they both have a reward but Mary does evolve and Sara remains "perfect"?
But adult issues aside, and all the musings one could enter while discussing the message of the story, or the setting which infers a lot of prejudice and historical wrongs, this story is worth it for the images and the attempt to preserve a time when innocence was to be appreciated.
For me, all adult considerations aside, this story is worth it for the images it provokes in me. The nobility of someone being harshly and wrongly mistreated because there is no longer money, but who still maintains a pose, a dignity and a generous side (even though not aware of it) as Sara does is certainly something to appreciate. But this tale is made of moments, of feelings and if I couldn't imagine how it must be to lose a parent at such a young age, there was one specific scene that left me thinking and reminiscent on my own past.
When Sara's father brings her to the school and then leaves while Sara watches the car disappear I immediately thought about a similar experience, but to me it happened when I went to the university. My father left me and my roommate in the house we would be sharing and the apartment was in the third floor. I stayed on, watching him climb down the stairs. He stopped and said "goodbye" as did I. When he left, I entered and closed the door and went to the room's balcony, which would oversee the road he would take to drive away. Let me tell, you, it's an image that never leaves me: my dad's car moving further and further away to home while I stayed there. I was lucky I was not alone, I had a friend, but...this emotion never stops, the idea people we care about leave and might not return...
I think these little (big) moments are what makes the story amazing. We can imagine Sara or any other child like her in the same situation, how one must cope. There are beautiful images to be thought of in this little novel and I think that, if one reads this through the eyes of our inner child and focusing on the simplest things, this can be a great story indeed.
Of course there are just too many coincidences but this is fiction, so... It was still worth a read.
Grade: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment