Little Women

Little Women, a book I have been fond of it since childhood, has influenced me deeply to this day. When flipping over it, the comfort roaming in the words always makes me feel safe and sound; as if the book is my air-raid shelter.

The story is about a family’s routine, especially the four sisters’, as the US Civil War was underway. Because their father served as a chaplain in the army, they lived in poverty; however, that did not disturb their wealthy spirits. The four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March, supported their family and those in need under their mother’s kind but wise instruction.Their closest neighbor was a man whose grandson,Laurie Laurence, lived with him, and they became intimate friends that kept no secret with each other. Meg, the beautiful and the eldest one, was an attractive and gentle girl; however, the material desire inside her heart often distracted her as becoming a perfect little woman, but she overcame it eventually. Jo, my favorite character and also the author herself, was a tomboyish girl being addicted to literature. The way she insisted on her dream and the action she spent on changing her irritable temper gave me not merely similarity but encouragement. I had the same worries as she did, but I did not try to settle them. Beth the bashful and the third one, was a loving-home girl playing the piano well. Reading the part she had scarlet fever, I was so intense that I nearly flip to the end, making sure that she was alive. Amy, the last girl with blond curls, gave me a terribly bad impression at first, but loved her in the end; due to her kindness and empathy.

The splendid part of the book is probably its warm family atmosphere. In the story, though facing obstacles and argument in their daily routine, the four sisters all passed through them by helping each others. In one paragraph, because being refused by Jo of going out with Meg and Laurie, Amy was so furious that she burned Jo’s precious book in revenge. After discovering that, being mastering by anger and grief, Jo cried that she would never forgive Amy forever. One day, Amy followed Jo and Laurie secretly, trying to bed for Jo’s pardon. Jo saw that but chose to ignore her. Suddenly, with a crash of rotten ice, Amy fell into the water. After Amy was rescued and sent to home, feeling regretful and sorrowful, Jo confessed to her mom. Mrs. March, instead of punishing her, told Jo that she should try to control her bad temper. The way how Mrs. March taught her little women always makes me feel beneficial because she always gave the girls lessons and let them found out the importance in things happened in their lives. This is what our education of nowadays lacks of. The knowledge in books is essential, yet, the lessons learned from lives are more useful.

Another admirable factor in Little Women is that some personalities on the characters seem familiar to me. Take Meg, for example, her problem was her material desire in her heart, which is exactly the same to me. Staring at others’ beautiful clothes and gorgeous parties, Meg felt embarrassed and inferior. However, she conquered the disturbance by noticing that wealth does not equal to happiness. Eventually, she became a real little woman. When reading these parts, I always think of my desire at the same time. Why do I attach to money and brand so much? Does wealth really bring me a better future? The whole society keeps giving us a kind of thought that owing a lot of fortune is extremely necessary, though people always say money is not that important. I am still struggling, trying to find the suitable answer for me, just as how Meg found it.

I am sure that the book gives me the ideal family what I want no matter now or in the future. I sincerely hope that after many years, opening the book again, I will read it to my lovely little women with a satisfied smile.