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The Midwife's Apprentice By Karen Cushman

922 Words4 Pages

Having no food, living in a pile of dung for a source of heat, and trying to find a place in the world. How would you have handled it? If a lady with a sharp glance and a sharp nose was staring at you as you open your eyes and she asked for your help. What would you say? In the book “The Midwife’s Apprentice” by Karen Cushman, there is a girl by the name of Alyce but but goes by the names Beetle and Brat throughout the book. She is perhaps a 12 or 13-year-old orphan living on her on. She has no family members or friends to keep her company or cherish her, she doesn't feel loved. She is made fun of for being who she is and how a she looks. Alyce wanted a full stomach, a home, and a place in the world, but she is an orphan who doesn't know how to read or write. So, she becomes a midwife's apprentice, but then she runs away to become an inn girl. She realized what she wants and goes back to the midwife. At …show more content…

Alyce doesn't have a parent to support her or siblings to help and cherish her. Alyce gets made fun of as looking like the dirtiest boys in the town. When she was young she thought that was her only choice and her life couldn't get any better. As she grew older and knew more, she started to realize that she wants a place in the world and finally a change in her life. The text states, “In any event, the dung heap probably smelled a little worse than everything else in her life - the food scraps scavenged from the kitchen yards, the stables and sties she slept in when she could, and her own unwashed, undernourished, unloved, and unlovely body.” This shows that she is not loved, not cared for, and Alyce knows that she doesn't have the best looks which bother her. Also the text states. ““Morning brought rain to ease the cold, and the kick of a boot in Brats belly. Hunger. Brat hated that the most.” This summarizes her life and how difficult it was. She needed to work for what she wanted and even work to even

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