The Hidden Hand Prompt

While reading The Hidden Hand I noticed a particular theme that had occurred in the other domestic texts we read. Capitola is a young, poor little girl who has had to learn to take care of herself. Growing up in New York all alone, she has had to teach herself all the lessons a parent should. Even though so young, she has seen a great deal and had to endure situations no girl of her age should. I saw the same aspect, in that she had to grow up faster than normal, in Ellen's character in the Wide, Wide World and in Gerty of The Lamplighter. I saw all the same little girls, but due to their surroundings, different characteristics and different personalities within each of them.

Capitola, as I mentioned above, had to grow up quickly and learn how to survive. She had no parent like figure to guide her or teach her. She dressed up in boys clothes in order to get a decent, honorable job. The more comical and wild spirit of the three, Capitola had seen and learned a lot from living on the streets, but not what a girl of her age should be seeing. The author recalls, " She had indeed the innocence of youth, but not its simplicity" (187). Capitola still was a child, helpless and wandering, but her lifestyle was not simple in that she had seen horrible lifestyles and dangerous ways for her age.

Ellen did have a parent to love her, spoil her, and teach her. However, because her mother became so ill, at a young age she dedicated herself to going above and beyond to take care of her. By giving her mother her daily tea and toast, as the author impressed on our minds so much, Ellen truly dedicated her life to taking care of her mother. After the doctor visits her mother on her deathbed, he warns Ellen, " You mustn't let her talk much, or laugh much, or cry at all, on any account; she mustn't be worried in the least-will you remember? Now, you know what I must expect of you; you must be very careful" (31). The doctor instills on her to take responsibility for her mother; a job of too much pressure for a girl her age. Although Ellen had this character in her life, she had to put on a brave face in order to deal with the fact her mother was dying. She had to do this all on her own, with her father out of the picture, and relied on other characters for support, such as the old gentleman. Like Capitola, Ellen is forced to be seen as a 'little adult' yet she is only a mere child.

As for Gerty, even though she is a little more angry than the previous two, grew up with Nan Grant, whom treated her awfully, beating her and hardly feeding her, if at all. Nan robs her of her innocence, creating this little monster. Gerty never had the chance to have a childhood because she was too busy taking care of her own self. Only when True comes to rescue her does she almost get a chance to restore some of the innocence of childhood lost. But it is hard to reverse what Gerty has already been through, witnessing the horrible and angry ways of Nan; that is all she has ever known. When her friend asks her about the bible and God, Gerty has not a clue of anything he is talking about. She never learned anything a normal girl her age would have, not even basic things like cleaning, as Mrs. Sullivan states, " You never have been taught to do anything, my child; but a girl eight years old can do a great many things, if she is patient and tries hard to learn" (108). Just like Capitola and Ellen, their youth was taken from them when they had to start being their own caretaker and missed out on normal things.