In Little Women,
Louisa May Alcott frequently plays with the idea of how much selflessness and
independence there should be within a girl’s life. According to Alcott, girls
should be selfless and should go out of their way to help others in need. For
example, in the beginning of the novel, the four girls selflessly give their
Christmas breakfast to the Hummel family. Because of this act, the four girls find
that, “that was a very happy breakfast, though they didn’t get any of it; and
when they went away, leaving comfort behind, I think there were not in all the
city four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their breakfasts”
(Alcott 16). By being selfless and
putting aside their own wants and needs, the characters were extremely happy
and content with themselves. Hence, Alcott is clearly trying to convey the idea
that if a girl is selfless, then she will be able to lead a content and
rewarding life.
However, Alcott also conveys the idea that by being
independent and selfish of your wants and needs, a girl can still be happy. In
the novel, when Jo gets her story published in the newspaper, she is ecstatic
because she realizes that, “to be independent, and earn the praise of those she
loved, were the dearest wishes of her heart, and this seemed to be the first
step toward that happy end” (Alcott 156). By being independent and having the
opportunity to provide for her family, Jo feels extremely content, proud, and
happy.
Throughout the book, Alcott seems to make the contradictory
point that a girl should be selfless and independent if she wants to be content
and happy with her life. However, most of the time, in order to be independent,
a person has to be selfish and pursue his/her own wants and needs. Moreover, most
people pursue their own dreams by pushing aside the expectations of their
families and friends. Hence, within the novel, Alcott’s depiction of how prevalent
selflessness and independence should be within a girl’s life is contradictory.
However, it is clear that Alcott believes that selflessness and independence
should both exist within a girl’s life.
I disagree with Alcott's thought that selflessness cannot co-exist with independence. There are certain types of selflessness that can be rewarding and show how independence has aided in the facilitation of giving. For example, I cycle for an independent team for Little 500, and my desire to learn and train on my own over the past year has helped me become a better athlete. Today, I devoted some time to help a friend learn how to bike so she could ride for another team. Now, I do see how Alcott would point out that it wasn't entirely selfless in her point of view, as I exercised my free will by acting as a friend and put my friend first instead of performing my duty as team captain and doing what was best for my team (which was doing a workout with my teammates later today). However, I believe that fundamentally, my desire was to help my friend, and I did it with my free will.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of independence to me, is pursuing one's dream without asking for help. However, it doesn't necessarily discount a person's selfless action. In my above example, my friend would not be able to ride Little 500 if she didn't start learning how to ride a road bike now. My action of offering help will allow her to pursue her goal of riding in the race. I think that independence is about knowing when that offered help is necessary, not about being so foolhardy as to say no even when one is struggling with the steps necessary to achieve the desired end goal.
I agree with Alcott's thought that independence and selflessness should both exist, except I believe that its existence is not only in women's life, but in men's life also. At the same time I believe that they can co-exist. When you help other people out, you’re not dependent on them. Being independent, a person alone can make the decision of their outtake in their selfless acts. People help others usually for one of three reasons: they want to, they have to, or they feel guilty if they don't or if they don't want to. Now, if a person is forced to help others, they have obviously not been independent in making their own choices. Much of the time though, when people know they do not want to be volunteering or helping others through whichever channel the selfless act is, they feel guilty and ultimately their mindset changes from being forced to be there to being there because they decided too.
ReplyDeleteThis relates well with someone other than the girls in Little Women, Laurie. He gives up his dreams, and instead decides to stay with his grandpa. He’s not forced to stay, he makes the decision himself. “With the resolve to make the sacrifice cheerfully, ‘I’ll let my castle go, and stay with the dear old gentleman while he needs me, for I am all he has” (146). While the last part “for I am all he has” might seem to carry on the side of feeling guilty, he still makes the decision for himself while also thinking about what his grandfather wants. Something I believe to be a selfless act because he ultimately decides based on someone else's needs.