Book Report: LITTLE WOMEN

This book is called, ‘LITTLE WOMEN’ written by Louisa May Alcott. It is about the lives of four girls living in poverty and how they grow up. Their names are Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Each with their own different personality, they lead a very hard life. Their mum (Marmie) and housekeeper (Hannah) both live with the four girls while their father is away at war. Amy is the youngest and the sassiest one, Beth is the second youngest and the quietest, Jo is the second oldest and sportiest and Meg is the oldest and most romantic. They each encounter many experiences, which better their personalities. First, Beth who is the best in music, impresses their neighbour by playing on their Grand Piano for him. Laurie’s (the neighbour) grandfather, Mr. Laurence, hears the first few notes and is impressed. Beth’s sisters urge her to play to Mr. Laurence and she finally does. From then onwards, Beth and Laurie’s grandfather are great friends. After this, Amy enters the Valley of Humiliation. She buys limes to gain attention and show off in school. She feels very proud of herself. Amy’s enemy tattles on Amy and Amy’s teacher, Mr. Davis, then humiliates Amy, makes her throw the pickled limes into the backyard and delivers many blows with a stick on Amy’s little palm. Amy is outraged and leaves her school ‘forever’ at recess. Her family take her side but Marmie tells Amy calmly that she shouldn’t be conceited. However, not everything is solved. One day, Jo gets angry with Amy for being nosy and Amy gets quite upset. The next day, Jo is looking for her manuscript which she has taken ages to write but realises that Amy has burnt it up. Jo consults Marmie about her hot-temper and takes some advice. Amy and Jo then forgive each other and move on.  Lastly, Meg is embarrassed by going to her rich friend, Anne’s, house where they try to make a fool of her because they give her their clothes and tell lies about her. Meg is in a rage when she realises that Anne’s friends only like her because they believe Anne’s lies. She goes home in embarrassment and confesses what she had experienced. Marmie and Jo tell her to think twice about luxury and not to take chase it. Just then, they get to know that their father is very ill and so Marmie has to go to support him. Later, when father and Marmie come home, all the girls are much more matured and are now, little women.

What I like about the book is:

• My favorite character was Jo because she had a strong personality and was a tomboy. Jo’s life- infact all of the sisters’ lives- consist of experiences from which lessons are learnt and they try their best to fix it. This was one of the things I really liked about the book.
• Louisa May Alcott was trying to show us how life was back in the nineteenth century. One of the main topics depicted in the book was how unfair and differently they treated men and women. Men were allowed to go outside and work but women weren’t and they had to sit at home and sew. They weren’t allowed to be boyish like Jo but they had to do all the housework like how they were expected to do. I feel quite strongly about this so when anyone nowadays is being a bit unfair towards women, I fight back to tell them that it’s not right.
• There were many different lessons I learnt while reading this book. One of the biggest lessons were: out of every bad, comes a good. Some other side lessons were: not to be conceited, which is portrayed best in Amy when she tries to show her limes off. The second one was to try and control your feelings, which is portrayed best in Jo when she consults Marmie about her hot-temper. The third one was not to be too shy because if you are, you may miss out on many opportunities in life. This is portrayed best in Beth and Mr. Laurence as Beth was shy at first but then she overcomes her shyness and builds a strong relationship with Mr. Laurence. And last but not least, you shouldn’t take anything for granted. This is portrayed best in Meg when she wants to live a luxurious life and takes it for granted but then figures out that her friends like her because of false lies.
• Finally.. FUN TIME! Read the book and answer the questions:

1. Laurie and Jo are good friends. True or False?
2. Does Meg marry at the end of the book?
3. Who does Meg marry?
4. What is a little strange about their marriage?
5. What is father’s occupation?

I WOULD RATE THIS BOOK A 9 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING LITTLE WOMEN!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $3.00!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON GUARDIAN BOOKSHOP FOR £7.37!