Sara Hughes—April 15th, 2015
Literary Analysis
ENG 101—B503
Instructor: Diana Douglas
Orphan Train Literary Analysis
“Orphan Train”, written by Christina Baker Kline, is a novel telling the tales of two lives, Vivian Daly and Molly Ayer. Ninety-one year old Vivian, orphaned at a young age due to a tragic fire (19), explores her past when she encounters seventeen year old Molly, orphaned after her father’s death and her mother being thrown in jail. After getting caught attempting to steal “Jane Eyre” from the school library (6), Molly was referred to Vivian by her boyfriend, Jack, in hopes of knocking out fifty hours of community service by organizing Vivian’s attic. In doing so, Molly begins to uncover and question Vivian about
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her past, enabling Vivian to grow closer with Molly. Their emotional journeys teach us that two people, such as Vivian and Molly, grow from past experiences and find similarities that help them grow closer together. Vivian and Molly have many similarities such as their hopes for finding a family and their value of family keepsakes.
They both learn to only take what is needed in their travels to new homes. Vivian always wears an Irish-cross necklace given to her by her grandmother when she was a child. “Yes, see how she guards it?” Miss Larsen, Vivian’s teacher in Minnesota, says acknowledging the necklace (163). Molly always carries three charms given to her by her father for her birthday. The charms consist of a fish, raven and bear. Both Vivian and Molly carry these keepsakes as symbols of family that help them remember happier times in their lives as they go from home to home. As the story progresses we …show more content…
learn Hughes 2 more about Vivian and Molly through their encounters with different people in foster homes and how both of them struggled with rejection. Three days after the fire leaving her an orphan, nine year old Vivian—Niamh at the time—was told by a Mr. Schatzman of the “perfect solution” that would mean sending her to the Children’s Aid Society (24). In doing so, she travels on a train for orphans and is sent to and from foster homes, including having foster parents such as Mr. Grote who sexually abused Vivian and Mrs. Grote who blamed her and threw her out. Molly also faced struggles in foster homes such as her foster home with Dina and Ralph. “This is not what I signed up for,” Dina said (3). She and Dina bumped heads in many ways due to Molly being vegan and gothic in appearances. Vivian and Molly both deal with hardships.
However, there have been positive influences in their lives as well. “He has straight sandy hair and pale blue eyes and is twelve or thirteen, from what I can tell, though his manner seems older” (37), Vivian thought when she first encountered Dutchy, his real name Hans, on the orphan train. Vivian also cares for a baby by the name of Carmine when she first arrives on the orphan train. Vivian, Dutchy and Carmine become an “odd little family” (39) first beginning their travels. On the third day on the orphan train they cross into Illinois. After stepping onto the platform of the train station, Dutchy quickly lures Vivian and Carmine away from the others. After arriving in a large terminal, Dutchy hauls Carmine onto his shoulders. “He clasps Carmine’s legs and twirls, Carmine stretching out his arms and throwing his head back, gazing up at the skylights, shrieking with glee as they turn, and in that moment, for the first time since the fire, my worries are gone.” (42). Vivian’s friendship with Dutchy was a bond not easily broken. They promised to find each other again and Dutchy became Vivian’s first husband at a later date. In the same way that Vivian had support in a friendship, Molly had Jack. “She wears her Goth persona like armor. Jack was the only one who’d tried to break through.” (4). Jack first approached Molly in social studies class and asked her to join him
and Hughes 3 his partner, Jody, for a project. Molly thought he should have the same social difficulties, but had to admit, “He has some major things going for him: flashy moves on the soccer field, a dazzling smile, great big cow eyes, and ridiculous lashes.” (4). Jack quickly became Molly’s boyfriend and he was the one to guide and support Molly when she needed somebody, also getting her the job of helping Vivian in her attic. Vivian and Molly soon build the family they both were constantly searching for. This book shows how you do not have to be related by blood to be family. Vivian later takes Molly in and their friendship is that of a family. Along with the friendships Vivian and Molly had with other friends and each other, it just goes to show that people that seem so different can often have similar attributes that make bonds that can never be broken. Work Cited Kline, Christina Baker. Orphan Train. New York: William Morrow, 2013. Print.
The plot of this book begins with the fact that Canadian girl named Laura finds out that her father is a humble pensioner, a former teacher, committed suicide from the bridge, during
The Orphan Train is a compelling story about a young girl, Molly Ayer, and an older woman, Vivian Daly. These two live two completely different yet similar lives. This book goes back and forth between the point of views of Molly and Vivian. Molly is seventeen and lives with her foster parents, Ralph and Dina, in Spruce Harbor, Maine. Vivian is a ninety-one year old widow from Ireland who moved to the United States at a young age. Molly soon gets into trouble with the law and has to do community service. Molly’s boyfriend, Jack, gets his mom to get her some service to do. Jack’s mom allows her to help Vivian clean out her attic. While Molly is getting her hours completed, Vivian explains her past to her. Vivian tells her about all the good times and bad in her life. She tells her about how she had to take a train, the orphan train, all around the country after her family died in a fire. She told her about all the families she stayed with and all the friends she made along the way, especially about Dutchy. Dutchy is a boy she met on the orphan train and lost contact with for numerous years, but then found each other again and got married and pregnant. Sadly, Dutchy died when he was away in the army shortly after Vivian got pregnant. When Vivian had her child, she decided to give her up for adoption. Molly and Vivian grew very close throughout the time they spent together. Molly knows that Dina, her foster mother, is not very fond of her and tells her to leave. Having no place to go, Vivian let her stay at her house.
Born in 1959, author Debra Oswald began writing as a teenager. She rose to prominence with the debut of Gary’s House where it was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Award. Many of her works features abandoned and neglected children that grow into adults to fight their own demons in the past. Oswald writes about the importance of a family’s psychology, both real and surrogate. In Gary’s House, Gary had a bad relationship with his father that lead to neglection and eventually hate but when Gary himself becomes a father he disregards his past to provide for his future child. This is the author’s intention of representing how important family is.
In the novel Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline, we witness a relationship develop between Molly, a seventeen year old in the foster care system, and Vivian, a ninety-one year old widow that is looking to clean out her attic. As the book progresses, we see them grow closer through telling stories and bonding over their joint hardships. Kline goes out of her way to illustrate this strengthening friendship through many little hints in the novel.
In the novel Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline, we witness a relationship develop between Molly, a seventeen year old in the foster care system, and Vivian, a ninety-one year old widow that is looking to clean out her attic. As the book progresses, we see them grow closer through telling stories and bonding over their joint hardships. Kline goes out of her way to illustrate this strengthening friendship through many little hints in the novel to where she is ultimately leading the duo.
As a child, Judy had a large imagination; and loved to play. Judy always had an adoration of books; she relished the texture, scent, and everything about them. There was one thing though, Judy wanted a book about a child that she could relate to. When Judy was about ten years old, she had to leave her New Jersey home for Miami, Florida, along with her Mother, Nanny Mama, and David. They were going to Florida for the winter because the cold weather in New Jersey was bad for David's health. Doey had to stay in New Jersey to manage his dentist office. Judy wasn't so sure about Miami, plus she was worried about her father because he was forty-two and all of his older brothers had died at that very age. At first Judy wasn't so sure about living in Miami, it was so different. Judy soon made friends with a few girls that lived in the same apartment building as her. They did everything together. They hung out at the beach, did ballet lessons, and went to the same school. Judy left Miami and went back to New Jersey for the summer. The n...
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Symbols are displayed in both stories; the quilts in “Everyday Use” symbolize the memories of Mama’s family. The quilts are made of pieces of old clothing from Mama’s family. Each piece of the quilt represents that person and who they were. They are passed on to future generations along with stories of the ancestors’ past. The quilts represent pride of their ancestors’ struggles, where they came from and the fight to preserve their individuality. Unlike Dee, Mama and Maggie acknowledge their heritage from memories of their family members. Dee bases her heritage off ...
The war time childhood events Penny and Primrose encounter result in psychological traumas such as parental abandonment. These two girls in particular endure psychological trauma of isolation, neglect, and displacement that begins when the two girls begin walking with the other children to climb aboard the train. The two young friends set off at the ...
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Quilts symbolize a family’s heritage. Maggie adheres the tradition by learning how to quilt from her grandmother and by sewing her own quilts. Maggie also puts her grandmother’s quilts into everyday use. Therefore, when Dee covets the family’s heirloom, wanting to take her grandmother’s hand-stitched quilts away for decoration, Mama gives the quilts to Maggie. Mama believes that Maggie will continually engage with and build upon the family’s history by using the quilts daily rather than distance herself from
We have all heard the African proverb that says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” The response given by Emma Donoghue’s novel Room, simply states, “If you’ve got a village. But if you don’t, then maybe it just takes two people” (Donoghue 234). For Jack, Room is where he was born and has been raised for the past five years; it is his home and his world. Jack’s “Ma” on the other hand knows that Room is not a home, in fact, it is a prison. Since Ma’s kidnapping, seven years prior, she has survived in the shed of her capturer’s backyard. This novel contains literary elements that are not only crucial to the story but give significance as well. The Point-of-view brings a powerful perspective for the audience, while the setting and atmosphere not only affect the characters but evokes emotion and gives the reader a mental picture of their lives, and the impacting theme along-side with conflict, both internal and external, are shown throughout the novel.