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Analysis Of The Midwife's Apprentice By Karen Cushman

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“What a man can be, he must be,” is a quote by Dr. Abraham Maslow in the book Motivation and Personality, which talked about a hierarchical pyramid of human needs. It means, such as, if a girl wants to be a midwife, she must be a midwife, like in the book The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman. The main character, Alyce, wants to find a place in the world by becoming a midwife, and it is the most important thing to her. However, her age and gender affect the conflict. First, her gender affected her because there were only so many jobs a female could have in the Middle Ages. Many women just worked along with the men in the fields, taking care of the animals and doing housework. Also, many women had another occupation, like spinning, weaving, …show more content…

Alyce worked hard to help people (and an animal) to give birth. In the book, it states, “Alyce took another deep breath and returned to Joan’s side. She gave her mugwort in warm ale to drink and spoke soothingly, calling her Sweetheart and Good Old Girl. She warmed oil over the fire and rubbed her head and belly, as she had the cow’s. She did not know the spells or the magic, so gave Joan all she had of care and courtesy and hard work.” (Pg. 59, 3rd paragraph) Also, she doesn’t give up and overcome obstacles. Even though Alyce runs away because she failed to help Emma Blunt give birth, she regains her confidence when the rich merchant’s wife was laboring at the inn. In the book, it states, “Alyce backed out of the cottage, then turned and ran up the path to the road, she didn’t know why or where. Behind her in that cottage was disappointment and failure. The midwife had used no magic. She had delivered that baby with work and skill, not magic spells, and Alyce should have been able to do it but could not. She had failed.” (Pg. 70, 2nd paragraph) After this event, she runs away from the village to John Dark’s inn, and learns that Jane Sharp came to talk to Magister Reese. “She was not as stupid as some I have had, and better company, but still perhaps her going was for the best. She was not what I needed.”

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Historical Fiction Novel Analysis The novel The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman is about a 13 year old girl called Brat who has not found her place in society until she meets Jane the Midwife. Brat undergoes several identity changes when she changes her name from Brat to Beetle then eventually to Alyce. This novel is set in a small village in England during the 14th century. Brat was accustomed to the lifestyle of sleeping in dung heaps and traveling on foot from village to village begging for her next meal.

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She found a lump in there, so her and her husband rushed to the gynecologist doctor. The gynecologist, Howard Jones found out about her untreated medical conditions on her chart. She did not really treat those conditions because according to the book, she had no idea what anything was. She was not the brightest tool in the shed considering that she only had a 7th grade education and only worked at the farms her whole life. No one saw her tumor when she gave birth to her children; therefore, it grew at a fast pace.

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She watched her mother die slowly and she watched her dad struggle to take care of her. As a young kid or even as an adult watching the person who is supposed to raise you and teach about love, and everything you need to know in life will greatly affect what type of person you turn into. One of the most heartbreaking things you can go through as a child is watching your mother slowly die and then watching your father struggle to take care of her and provide for the family. Ida went through a lot, her mom was sick and then her mom’s sister Clara came to help out and caused a lot of drama in the family. All the fighting put a lot of stress on young Ida, “Mama charged Clara with sneaking into the house like an enemy, charger that she had always covered papa, berated her for taking advantage of illness to have her way” (283).

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I am too stupid to be a midwife's apprentice and too tired to wander again. I should just lie here in the rain until I die.” Her self esteem did increase, a lot. This happened in chapter 17 gets the choice to help Magister Reese with his widowed sister and wished to employ Alyce, take care of the new baby in Salisbury, staying with Jannett at the inn, or going off on her own. She thought to herself “ What to do?

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