Little Women Character Development

The character development of people varies between each individual. It depends on a person’s strive for the betterment. Some people are afraid of change, but development is something different that attracts the eyes of society. In Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”, Amy March undergoes the least amount of character development in comparison to her sisters. Amy portrays stubbornness, irresponsibility, and selfishness throughout the novel. A person possessing a trait such as selfishness, can control a human’s soul, which affects their will for change. People portray selfishness on a day-to-day basis, that they think it is a normal characteristic in a person. Amy is an example of a selfish sister in many ways. She burnt Josephine’s book just

Amy is an example of a typical irresponsible adolescent. To illustrate, she once took money from Margaret to purchase pickled limes for her class, which was a trend at the time. Although she knew that her family was poor and that the teacher had banned pickled limes in class, she got them anyway (Welch, “Amy's Pickled Limes - Little Women”).One day, Theodore, often called Laurie, and Josephine decided to go skating. Amy was outraged that she wasn't invited, so she followed them to the lake without them knowing. Jo and Laurie start skating, he then checks the ice and tells Jo to keep close to the shore, since the ice isn't thick enough in the middle to hold their weight. Amy, not far behind them, did not hear this warning. Amy stepped on a light layer of ice that eventually broke, and fell in instantly. She was later saved by Jo and Laurie who sped off to pull her out of the water( Alcott 84). Amy often whined about not being rich during a time where her father was fighting in the civil war and could’ve easily lost his life. She whined without thinking about her mother and sisters, Josephine and Margaret, that tried their very best to provide the family with money. Irresponsibility often leads a person to become stubborn and influences the lives of the people around

Amy is extremely stubborn to the point that she doesn’t realize it. Beth caught a contagious disease known as scarlet fever, which is life-threatening and can be caught easily. Josephine and Margaret had already caught it when they were younger, but Amy hadn’t, so the sisters decided to send Amy to Aunt March’s house. When they told her that she can not stay at home and must leave as soon as possible, she refused and insisted on staying. She was then convinced, after Laurie had promised her that he will visit her every day(Alcott 195). Another day, Laurie invited Margaret and Josephine to accompany him to the theatre. When the sisters were about to leave the house, Amy asked where they intended on going to. They did not want to tell her but were forced to, due to her insistence. She was outraged and insisted on tagging along, even after Jo said no. Meg and Jo eventually told her that she cannot go with them because Laurie had invited them only. Another example is when Amy gave the whole class pickled limes but not Jenny. Although Jenny was somewhat rude to Amy, Amy should've been nicer and showed Jenny that she was the better person. Due to Amy’s stubbornness, Jenny told on Amy and the teacher punished her at school (Alcott 72). Amy is one of the characters in the novel that got everything she wished for, which lead to her being the least developed character in the novel. The personality of Amy reflects the