I like Amy better and better as this second half of the book progresses. She's not so spoiled and flouncy as she was as a child, and she really behaves well in this chapter, doesn't she? My goodness, she's so adult about all this nonsense at the charity fair! I love how Jo and Laurie rally the troops around her and make her flower table a huge success -- loyalty always pleases me. So does magnanimity, and Amy sending them over to the art table she'd been banished from just warms my heart.But poor Jo, getting left behind from the trip to Europe. I feel so sad for her.
(I'm sorry these chapter posts are so short lately -- I've had a cold for over a week, which has morphed into bronchitis, and thanks to the illness and cough syrup, my brain is kinda fuzzy.)
Favorite Lines:
"You laugh at me when I say I want to be a lady, but I mean a true gentlewoman in mind and manners, and I try to do it as far as I know how" (p. 276).
Possible Discussion Questions:
If Mrs. Chester hadn't gotten in a tizzy over Jo's impression of her daughter and packed Amy off to the flower table, do you think the art table would have been more or less successful than it was this way?
If Jo had gotten to go on the trip to Europe instead of Amy, how different do you think this book would have been?
Do you wish Alcott had sent Jo to Europe instead?
Yes! Amy always used to annoy me, but in reading the book again, I think she really grew up to be a wonderful lady. I'm still really sad that Jo never got to go to Europe, because she deserved it, but I guess there's a reason for everything, and she wouldn't have met the Professor if she had gone. (-:
ReplyDeleteYou're so right! If Jo had gone to Europe, she wouldn't have gone to NYC. Perhaps she would have remained unmarried and continued writing sensational fiction instead? But I'm sad that she missed that opportunity. And if Amy hadn't gone, she might not have married Laurie either. What a different book it would end up being!
DeleteI feel the same way about the difference between the respective Amys;)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how differently things might have gone if Jo had gone instead of Amy, but I think they turned out so splendidly anyway that I'm quite happy Alcott sent Amy:) Plus, if Jo had gone, she wouldn't have gotten to spend those few remaining months with dear Bethie.
Yes, Olivia, I much prefer that it turned out this way. Jo would have been devastated if she'd been away from Beth when she died.
DeleteI love Amy in this chapter! You can really see how she strives to build up a good and strong character.
ReplyDeletePoor Jo! I really feel for her. But Amy did deserve to go.
My, how different this book would be if Jo had gone instead...I will probably spend way too much time imagining that now..
Yes, Amy's not getting this because she's spoiled, but because she deserves it, which is awesome!
DeleteI love to imagine how a story would have gone if one thing had changed :-) I do that a lot.
Yes, I felt so horribly sorry for Jo this time through....but yes, the story would be waaaaaay different if she had gone instead! Wow.
ReplyDeleteI always end up laughing when Jo and Amy are paying calls (in and around the excellent sisterly interchanges). I know it's dreadful, but Jo's manners at the different houses are so hilarious. And yes, Jo and Laurie rallying the troops at the fair -- simply delightful!! :)
Missed opportunities sometimes feel so tragic to me. Sometimes I'll get a chance to do something, and I'll say no for perfectly logical, sensible reasons... and then later on (sometimes much later), I'll regret not grabbing my chance when I had it. So I always feel sad for Jo missing out on this, even though she didn't exactly have the chance to turn it down or anything. So I'm really glad that she gets to go have her NYC adventure instead. At least she gets to broaden her horizons a bit!
DeleteOh, I know it must have been tragic to realise your mistake cost you a trip to Europe! I would have been devastated!
ReplyDeleteBut I am so glad Amy was given the opportunity, for I think it was 'the making of her' in many ways... I love how grown up she was even at the tender age of 16 (or 17...?)!
And as for Jo, how good it was that she did stay at home so that she could be with precious Beth during her last few months...how sad it would have been for both had she been absorbed in the sights and sounds of life abroad when the tradegy occured!
Of course she never would have met 'her match' either!
Kelly-Anne -- yes, how sad Jo would have been not to be there for Beth. And really, she didn't *need* a trip to Europe to help her become a strong, sensible young woman, but Amy kind of did, so I think it's good in the end that Amy went.
Delete