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Why Is Lyddie Not Free

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A person may believe they are free, while others recognize they are not. In the novel Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson, the main character Lyddie Worthen is not free because of the long work hours. Lyddie is a 13-year-old girl who needs to pay her father's debt. She works at the mill where it is dangerous because the air is polluted and the machine can hear the workers. They work six days a week 12 hours each day, and get one day off that they have to go to church. So, this is why Lyddie is not free.Lyddie considers herself not free because she works long hours at the mill. “Even when the girls were free at 7:00,it was to push and shove their way across the street to their boarding houses,bolt down their hearty breakfast,and rush back,stomachs …show more content…

If they do not gate on time they will not enter the mill for the day and not get payed for the day.Therefore, this shows that Lyddie is not free. Furthermor, Lyddie feels not free because she thinks she is not going to be free if she is going to work. “Once I walk in that gate,I ain’t free anymore,she thought.”(pg 18). Lyddie is not free when she starts working because she will be controlled by the mistress. Lyddie is not free because she has a lot of work to do at work the mil.Therefore this shows that Lyddia is not free because she is being controlled.Although Lyddie feels not free some people may argue she is actually free because she is not living with her mother anymore and not being controlled by her mother.“Tomorrow we're going to Poultney,”their mother said.” I aim to be with the faithful when the end comes.”(pg.5).This shows Lyddie is free because she was alone at the farm taking care of her self and her brother. Her mother is not controlled and she does what she want to the farm and choose what to do with her life. Therefore, this is why some people think Lyddie is free.Sometimes a person can be considered both free and not free Lyddies is not free because of work. Lyddie does not considercanseter herself free because she is going to be controlled by Mistress CUtler when she works at the tavern. Similarly, when she works in the mills she works from morning

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