Throughout
Little Women, there is a strong emphasis on the fact that sometimes we have to
do things we do not find pleasant. We have to do chores and work, even if we
may not want to, but these things are necessary. This lesson is specifically
enumerated in chapter 11, Experiments. Marmee says here, “Then let me advise
you to take up your little burdens again; for though they seem heavy sometimes,
they are good for us, and lighten as we learn to carry them” (117).
I
think there is some merit to what Marmee is saying. It is indeed true that our
burdens make us better people, as every hardship that we go through in life
teaches us lessons and makes us stronger. However, I don’t think that one
should take up burdens just for this reason. Suffering may make us better
people, but no one should want to suffer. We should not want to do chores
because it’s unpleasant, we should want to do chores so that the house is not
messy. I don’t clean my room because I think it will make me a better person, I
clean my room because if I don’t I won’t be able to walk through it.
I
think this can also be seen through Beth’s death. Beth was always the pure and
sweet soul, and so she had to go to God, as she was too pure for the world. I
think the suffering that she was put through for the years after she first
contracted her illness was God’s way of showing her suffering, as she could
never experience it otherwise. However, in her death, it is stated “As Beth had
hoped, the tide went out easily, and in the darkest hour before the dawn, on
the bosom where she had drawn her first breath, she quietly drew her last, with
no farewell but one loving look and a little sigh” (419). She did not suffer in
her death, but rather she went up to God peacefully, just as she lived.
Beth’s
death was clearly a large hardship for the sisters. Jo in particular takes this
loss with great difficulty. In chapter 42, she discusses the unfairness of her
life being so hard. She then channels this pain into writing something she
actually cares about. She goes on to get married and turn Aunt March’s house
into a school. She becomes stronger through losing Beth.
Little
Women is definitely from another time, but I think it tells a timeless lesson,
which is that, as Kelly Clarkson would say, what doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger. This lesson has clearly lasted from 1868 until now and it is still
seen in many forms of popular culture.
I think there was an attempt to convey the message that suffering leads to rewards later, as seen by numerous events in the book like Jo's yearning for a companion after Beth's death, May's spending habits, and Amy's table situation. Where this message got lost (and where this messaging got garbled) is in the nature of the writing of the book. One point we haven't discussed about in class was the semi-autobiographical nature of the novel, where many of the characters were based on people in Louisa's life. I'm guessing, though, that some of the qualities and aspects were amplified, or almost characterized, in order to create a more appealing novel to the reader. So, I think this was one aspect that was amplified. While there likely were some people who shared Marmee's beliefs on suffering, most people would likely see the view that suffering was something we should seek out as an extreme (and not reflected though the girls in the novel).
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