Should The Struggle In Katherine Paterson's Lyddie

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Have you ever been separated from your family? If you have, then you probably have been scared, and frantically searched for them. You were probably relieved when you found them a few minutes later. Well, in Katherine Paterson 's Lyddie, we meet the protagonist, a 12-year-old girl by the name of Lyddie, who lived in Vermont in the 1800s. Lyddie was sent away to work to earn money for her family and her farm. She hasn 't seen her family in 2 years and is still working hard to collect money to get her cabin back, which is in debt. When Lyddie meets Diana Goss, who was a girl working with Lyddie in the factory, Diana introduces her to a petition, that could change her life for the better, or for the worse. Should Lyddie sign the petition for a happier, healthier life, but could get blacklisted, or should Lyddie suffer for a few more years to get the money she needs? Some people might state that she shouldn 't sign the petition because the job has decent pay and that Lyddie doesn 't mind and is only focusing on one goal- money. The right decision for Lyddie is to sign the petition, so that Lyddie doesn 't get into any dangerous situation, doesn 't get worn out from her job and has a decreased risk of getting sick. …show more content…

In chapter 12, we see Betsy, one of Lyddie’s roommate’s complaining about how strenuous her job is. ‘“When I started in the spinning room, I could do a thirteen hour day and time to spare. But in those days I had a hundred thirty spindles to tend. Now I 've twice that many at a speed that would make the devil curse”’(91). This example shows that many people are suffering in these conditions, and no matter how hard someone works, it 's only going to get even more