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“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott shows women around the world the many different ways you can be a woman. There isn’t just one thing that makes someone a woman; they decide who they want to be through the actions they take in their life.
The sisterhood of “Little Women” is unlike anything I’ve read before. These four sisters grew up together, creating a wonderful bond. This can be felt through the book. I think that Alcott is very talented, because she wrote a novel that was able to touch so many people. It didn’t only affect people during her time period, but it’s also relevant to people today. The four sisters in this book are: Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. The book talks about all the wonderful moments that they created together while they were growing up, and I really enjoy reading about these moments. The book also talks about the bad things. Like all siblings, they fight, and things can get ugly when they are mad at each other. Amy was mad at Jo, and she burned her book that she had been working on for a very long time. This is what true sisterhood is, so it is crucial to add to the overall story.
Beth gets very sick with scarlet fever. At this time, the girls’ father was still away from home because he was fighting in the American Civil War. Sadly, Beth is too sick and the medicine is not enough to save her at this time, and she passes away. This novel shows what it was like to truly live during the 1860s. There were a lot of things that women couldn’t do because the world didn’t deem them fit. There were also a lot of people dying from illnesses that we are able to treat today. It’s important to keep books with true history around because it helps future generations learn about what it was like to live during these times.
This novel has the main character, Jo. My favorite thing she says in the novel is: “Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for.”
This is really important for women to hear. There are many societal standards that define what a woman should be. Girls should be able to grow up in a world of possibilities and findings. We should all be able to choose who we want to be. I feel like this novel really showcases how Jo felt out of place growing up. She was surrounded by women who all wanted to get married and start a family. Where her ambition for life was to write her story and spend time with her family.
“Little Women” was originally published in 1868, which was a different time for society, but I think a lot of the plot can be translated into today’s world. Many women feel behind in life because there is a societal timeline. This timeline says when women are supposed to get married, have kids, buy a house and get a full-time job. I just don’t think it’s realistic at all to have the same standard. Everyone goes through different life paths, so why would all women be on the same timeline? It doesn’t make sense. There are a lot of people who believe women need to get married and have children to be successful, but that is the whole point of the novel. Why should women have to get married to be successful? Women are also people, and they should be able to go down any path they want and still have it be considered successful.
Personally, I don’t think Amy should have ended with Laurie. Laurie met the family and they all created a great, friendly bond. He fell in love with Jo, but she didn’t want to marry at that time. She didn’t know if she would ever marry. She shot Laurie down. The movie adaptation directed by Greta Gerwig was an amazing adaptation of the book. The scene where Laurie tells Jo how he feels has so much emotion. It’s beautiful to watch that scene. After she shot him down, he went to Paris, and Amy was in Paris at this time. He went and talked to her, and before they knew it, he asked her to marry him. Laurie went after Amy because Jo said no. I will never agree with this part of the novel. It makes me sick to think that he went to the other sister because the first one said no. That’s not OK, he should have moved on.
The best trait the book can give to people is to be grateful for what they have. In the beginning of the book, the sisters are talking about how sad a poor Christmas will be. The war took money from everyone, and it was hard to celebrate the things that people still had. The very first page of the book, Beth says, “We’ve got Father and Mother, and each other.” It’s important to be thankful for what you have rather than spending your time dreaming about what you could have. They don’t have much money throughout the novel, but their family stays strong to suggest that all you need in life is a family to be happy. The family gives away part of their food to a family that has even less than them. Jo even sells her hair to be able to give her family some money, the only way she knows how to.
Family meant everything to these characters, even if it is fictional. I feel the warmth that they have for each other. There is so much care and love for each other. This feeling makes me want to learn more about the author’s life growing up. I wonder if she truly felt so much love in her home growing up, and that’s how she was able to pour it all into this beautiful novel that she created. Family is what keeps them going through all the hard obstacles that appeared while they were growing up. It makes me grateful for my family, because I know one day I will be able to look back and remember how they got me through the tough times.
“Little Women” is the best novel because of its diverse information. It can help women of all ages learn about the different time periods. It’s also showing women how they can advocate for themself. I love this novel because of the sisterhood. I grew up with a sister, and I love that I can read about another sisterly bond in a book. I love Jo’s character, because she wants to be a writer. I also love to write, so I feel like I am able to connect with her on a writing level. Writing in her time period was so different to writing in my time period. I am still able to feel connected to her through this shared interest. This is one of the first novels that had a strong woman writer as the lead, and I was inspired by this. She also believes in women and doesn’t listen to what other people think. She is strong because she would do anything for her family during the hard time of the war.
If you haven’t read “Little Women” you should definitely read it now. Then after reading the novel, you should watch the movie adaptation of the novel.