- Those Spunky gals: annotated bib: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/20199037?uid=3739912&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101119757897
"a universal study of a young gir's' search for security"[1]: 761
they "triumph because each possesses courage.": 761
Gates "makes careful use of setting... creating a series of symbolic scenes which reflect the movement to peace and security.": 763 They move "from a green world, through a wasteland.. to a new green world.": 763
Symbolism
editAfter scathing review of state of kids lit, Blue Willow is on short list of kids books recommended: http://www.unz.org/Pub/NewMasses-1942aug11-00022 (as is Codfish Musket)
Plate as object holding memories: "Though he cited no examples in Motif Index of Folk Literature, Stith Thompson identified a vital motif regarding the holding of time in D1366: Magic Object Causes Memory."[2]: 178
""To begin with," writes Gates as she gradually establishes the magic of Janey's object, it had belonged to Janey's great great grandmother, so it was very old. Then it had belonged to Janey's mother. But that was a long, long time ago before that mother had died and Mom had come to take her place. The memory of her mother was so shadowy to Janey that if she tried to hold it even for a second, it faded away altogether. It was like a bit of music you can hear within yourself, but which leaves you when you try to make it heard. Mixed up with this faint memory were Mother Goose rhymes and gay laughter and a home of their own. And because the willow plate had once been a part of all this, it had seemed actually to become these things to Janey. It was the hub of her universe, a solid rock in the midst of shifting sands."(22)
"Each character's favored object is special because of its singularity, as is the Little Prince's rose, the attention given them being a primary reason they are able to hold time. The magic of the object grows from times placed within the object and from the manner of time spent with the object."[2]: 178
"As such physical and psychological bonds develop over time, the object so deeply becomes a part of the owner's life that she becomes interwoven with the object, to the point of emotional symbiosis."[2]: 179
References
edit- ^ Stott, Jon C. (May 1973). "The Artistry of "Blue Willow"". Elementary English. 50 (5).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ a b c Shannon, George (Winter 1986). "All Times in One" (PDF). Children's Literature Association Quarterly. 10 (4): 178–181. doi:10.1353/chq.0.0398. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Cassuto, Leonard (2011). The Cambridge History of the American Novel. Cambridge University. p. 869. ISBN 9780521899079.