Chapter 36: Beth is dying. She and Jo talk about it during their trip to the seashore, and it is obvious to Father and Mother when the girls return home. I cried my way through this chapter.
Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die, ... And it shall come to pass that those who die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them.D&C 42:45,47
Chapter 37: Amy and Laurie meet in France at Christmastime and enjoy each other's company much more than either one of them expected to. As Kate said, the writing is on the wall.
Chapter 38: This chapter might be called "Meg Makes a Mess." While the lesson included is a good point, I have a hard time with the idea that Meg, former governess, is so completely unwilling to shape her own children's behavior! The indulgent parenting depicted is completely over-the-top and out of step with everything that she would have learned at home. Can you imagine sensible Marmee bribing her little ones into the behavior she wants? Meg should know better. However, the rest of it is completely believable. It's downright hard to find the right balance when babies come. They're such little sponges for attention! They're cute, cuddly, and helpless, and it's easy to neglect your husband. Mrs. March was in much better form with her advice and help this time. And I notice that it was accepted (unlike the jam debacle), so perhaps both John and Meg have learned a bit in the 2 years or so that they've been working on their marriage!
2 comments:
Oh no!! Just 'cuz you know the ending and don't like it, don't let the W&G books completely derail you.. we're so close!!! ;)
Yeah, I agree that the chapter with Meg and her child rearing gaffe was a little over the top. Though, I'm not sure her being a governess (at 16) would have been super beneficial for her learning to discipline kids. 16 is pretty young and Marmee wasn't offering her words of wisdom to aid the rearing of those kids like she did when the kids were Meg's own. Plus, with those kids we were always hearing how spoiled and awful they were (often attributed to their being rich). Also, I don't know that Meg would have ever put them to bed, a governess is more of a day-teacher, kind of like today's nannies. Nannies (even those who live with the family) still get to give the kids back to the parents at the end of the day.
Well, I got the next 3 read this afternoon. I'm generally feeling off today, so that could be the problem. We're 3 sections away from the end, so I imagine that I'll be able to hold out that long! ;)
Even if being a governess didn't help her, the things that she was doing are just not in keeping with the way that the Marches did business. I found that particular bit to be a bit unbelievable. Which is not to say that the moral of the story isn't a good one. I think the moral is spot-on. It's a difficulty that Andy & I faced after Monkey was born. I sometimes feel like we're still facing it: it's just much harder to be as mindful of your spouse's needs after a munchkin arrives. We used to trade long massages; that never happens now. We used to draw and paint together. We seldom, if ever, do either any more. Of course, Monkey brings TONS of laughter and other benefits that neither of us would trade for anything! But it certainly is different now, and the advice is great advice, even if the example given is a bit over-the-top.
Post a Comment