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The Struggle In Lyddie, By Katherine Paterson

881 Words4 Pages

People make decisions every day of their lives. For example, if they either wanted to go to Disney World or Disney Orlando. In the novel, Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson a 15 year-old girl named Lyddie was hired as a servant to help pay off her family farm’s debts. Lyddie wants to reunite her family once again…. somehow. Lyddie heard about all of the money a girl could make working in the Lowell, Massachusetts Mills. She makes her way there, to find that her dream of returning home with her family may never come true. This story is important because it talks about the Industrial Revolution and how the girls were mistreated, in danger, harassed, paid unfairly, child labor and terrible hours. While there are many reasons Lyddie should sign the …show more content…

This is because she needs the money for the debt before it is too late and Uncle sells the farm. Lyddie also wants bring her family back together.

One reason Lyddie should not sign the petition is because she needs money to pay off the debt before it’s too late and her Uncle sells the families farm. “ ‘We be selling it,’ he said, ‘We got to have the money- for-for Brattleboro. ’” (120) Uncle has come to visit Lyddie, to give Rachel (her younger sister) to her and to tell Lyddie he is selling the farm. This is a problem because Lyddie is trying to get the farm back. If he sells it she has no place to live, so she needs to keep working to try to pay the debt as fast as possible. “She was making far more money than she ever had at home in Vermont or was likely to. Why couldn’t people live and let live” (93) Lyddie is making a lot more money than she would had ever …show more content…

If Mr. Marsden found out who had signed the petition, then they would be blacklisted and if she wants to get her family back then she shouldn’t sign the petition. “She hadn’t realized how lonely until now-now that she was no longer alone” (140). Lyddie is realizing how lonely she had been, but now is coming to think she is no longer alone. This is a problem for Lyddie because Lyddie had missed her family and she was lonely. If Lyddie wants her family back together again she is going to have to pay off the debt as fast as possible. “It might break my heart to send the child away¨(139) & “It might break Rachel’s heart as well. She has been sent away too often in her short life”(139). Lyddie would be heartbroken is she was to send Lyddie away. Little Rachel has been in many homes already, this a problem for Lyddie because Lyddie only has Rachel has the only family right now and if Rachel leaves Lyddie might lose all of her hope, give up, and be depressed. ¨They take off July”(140). Lyddie and Rachel would take off July to visit the farm to pay off the debt. This shows Lyddie wants to get her family back together because Lyddie doesn’t want Rachel to keep moving from home to home. Lyddie wants her family together, Lyddie doesn’t want to be lonely anymore she wants to take care of

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