Purpose for Imaginative Literature
14 years ago
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Parentless - Not the Life You Expected it to Be
Pippi is a very interesting character. She reminds me a lot of Peter Pan in regards to his desire to never grow up and also in his acceptance, as well as his appreciation for the fact that he does not have parents. While this is true for both of them, Peter and Pippi enjoy taking on responsibility at times. I find this desire very peculiar because neither of them is required to be responsible. Both characters never want to grow up, but both live on their own, without the guidance or protection from their parents. I feel that as much as they don’t want to grow up, they are forced to in some respects, because they have no one to do anything for them. This means they have to perform certain daily duties on their own. Peter takes on the responsibility of “father” and also teaches the Lost Boys how to treat women, while Pippi wakes up and attends to both Mr. Nilsson and her horse. Pippi also cooks, cleans, and attempts to keep track of her gold. I think both of these stories bring out the irony of the idea of not having parents. While it would be nice to do whatever you would like, you may be forced to do things you do not like, which are things that your parents might regularly do if they were around. Peter Pan an Pippi Longstocking force me to cherish the presence of my parents, because by having them around, I feel like I really don’t have to grow up as fast as Peter and Pippi do, who are parentless. In my opinion, it would be difficult to remain a child for very long when your parents are not around to “baby” you or when you are taking on daily tasks in which a child your age would not normally engage.
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It is ironic to think that while Pippi and Peter were fighting so much to keep from growing up, they really were in fact doing quite grown up things!
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that Pippi and Peter Pan are both, in some ways, forced to grow up much sooner than others around them. However, growing up faster does not necessarily mean more mature, but rather growing up in the sense of taking on more responsibilities. While they do not have parents around to give guidance, Pippi and Peter must find guidance and help from within or from peers, which as we have seen with Peter, may not be the best option if one had to pick. Regardless, the idea of being parent-less and on one's own at such a young age does seem daunting to individuals like myself who have such joyous memories of my parents love and support surrounding me when I needed it most as well as times I didn't want it at all but the simple thought of knowing it was there was endlessly meaningful.
ReplyDeleteI thought that was really interesting in the book where it talks about Pippi’s morning routine, and how she essentially wakes up and gets the “children” ready and then makes herself breakfast. For a little girl who never had a mother, or really any female role models, Pippi seems surprisingly well-versed in what is expected of mothers. I know if I was Pippi’s age and living in a house by myself, there would be no way I would think to clean the house, or even remotely know how to cook. Then again, Pippi, having been raised on a ship, likely would have been taught these homemaker skills from the men on board, who like Pippi, had no women to “take care of them.” I wondered in my blog how Pippi would act if she had had a traditional upbringing like Tommy and Annika, but now that I think about it, I also wonder how she would act if like Peter, she hadn’t had any kind of positive adult role models. Would she fear growing up just as much as Peter if all she saw were adults setting bad examples?
ReplyDeleteYour argument about responsibility is interesting, and I think it could be applied to what we have been discussing about heroism in class. To what degree does a hero need to be "responsible"? Also, I think we could question what we may be teaching children through models of responsibility in literature, and how these models may be significant to development. Do children feel inspired to be responsible when they see Pippi and Peter taking on responsibility?
ReplyDeleteI also felt very thankful for my parents after reading Pippi Longstocking and Peter Pan. Yes, it is nice to be independent, but these children are having to do "grown up" things, which is actually making them grow up faster than they may want. As a child, you should not be expected to cook, clean, do laundry, etc. But, these are the daily activities Pippi must do. After reading this novel, I became very grateful for my parents. Yes, Pippi has a fun childhood because she has no parents, but she is also having to fill the adult like roles so early, which may prevent her from fulfilling her roles as a child.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ideas about responsibility and the link between Peter Pan and Pippi. They both are fighing growing up, when actually, they are doing many things that grown ups do. They main thing they both do that is similar is act as caregivers. Peter takes on the role as a caregiver to the lost boys and Pippi acts as one to her animals and in a sense her friends. This is important because as much as they try not to be they actually have some mature characteristics.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't think that Pippi really has a desire not to grow up. Instead, she is just a youthful and free person that acts according to what she thinks is right. She doesn't rely on other people to tell her what is right and wrong, but instead finds out for herself through experience.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Molly's question, I think that children do feel a sense of taking on responsibility after seeing Peter and Pippi doing the same. However, these aspects of responsibility are very basic and include things like cleaning and cooking. I think the fact that Pippi is a very selfless, kind person and has a solid moral compass is more important than the domestic responsibilities that she undertakes.