Orphan Train Quotes

What does a name really mean to someone? What are the first things that come to mind when a name is spoken or read? For example, hearing the name Abraham Lincoln some people might think of a tall, ugly man with a large black hat. One might think of his actions during the civil war and how he freed the slaves. Others might think of his death after the civil war. While Lincoln lived a hard life, one thing is true, he was never stripped of his name and forced to ride a train like Niamh in Christina Baker Kline novel Orphan Train. In this novel, Niamh was forced to ride an orphan train after her house burnt, down killing most of her family. Orphan trains carried orphans and poor children from the cities on the East coast to the Midwest to be adopted

In living with the Byrne’s she becomes more unwanted because she is shown no care and forced to sleep on the floor in hallway in there house. She also has to adapt to the working life because if she does not work hard enough Mrs. Byrne’s threatens to send her back to child aid society. As Mrs. Byrnes says “if you are a respectful and hardworking, you will be treated fairly”(Kline71). While she works for the Byrne’s its mainly her worker phase and her starting move father away from her positive outlook at finding a loving family. Then the stock market crashes and she is moved to the Grote’s household where she begins her motherly phase. She has to help take care of their children because the mother just lays in bed all day, the only reason they adopted her was because needed her to be mother since the mother wasn’t a good. She is also expected to help cook dinner out of whatever Mr. Grote brought home. She then is almost raped by Mr. Grote which Mrs. Grote makes her leave after seeing then sends her out of the hose where she has to walk four miles in the cold to a school house. As she is leaving hose she thinks “ I leave any shred of my childhood on the rough planks of the living room floor” (Kline152). This is mainly her motherly phase and becoming a young adult, but all of the cooking and cleaning skills help at the boarding house for women where she can have a reason to stay there. She admits this feels her first true home she doesn’t want to leave. But she eventually has to leave to go to the home of the Nielsons a grocery store owning and well know family. This phase in Dorothy’s life starts out very rough but it ends with her finally finding a good family to live the Nielsons. The next phase is her living with Nielsons, she feel like a real citizen of the community she has her own room, goes to church, and is high ranking and