“The New Mother”: Remember that this story was first published in 1882. It’s quite different from most contemporary stories for children. Think about the purpose of this story, and then discuss whether you think it’s effective or not. What does this story communicate about attitudes regarding childhood at the end of the 19th century?  

This story seems like it could really apply to children and teens today, although it was first published in 1882. I think the purpose of this story is to say something about the raising up of children and the struggles they inwardly deal with. In this story Blues Eyes and Turkey live with their single mom and baby. Their father is away over seas. They already with that alone have a struggle. To makes things worse, they go out of the house and are faced with a conflict of heart and morals. The ragged girl tempted the two kids with something they really wanted to see, but under one condition: they could only see the little dancing man and woman if they were naughty. These were good kids, but this was a temptation to be naughty. The mother convinced them to be good by trying to tell them what the punishment would be; she would leave and a new mom with a glass eye and wooden leg would take care of them. The children had an inner conflict. They were torn as to what to do. They wanted to be good because they wanted to please their mom, but that discipline wasn’t enough. They wanted to be naughty in order to please their own desires regardless of punishment.  

This story communicates all kinds of attitudes about children at the end of the 19th century. This story says that children are naive and don’t really know what they want in life. They will believe anything an adult tells them. But, at the same time they will allow themselves to be a man pleaser. They’ll be “good” to please their parents. Although these children ended up disobeying, they still struggled with the pressure to be the perfect little children. This story associates being good with love and the mom pretty much told her kids they could only be loved if they were good. This isn’t how I’m going to raise my children!