Chapters 28-29

Background Information/Vocabulary:  

 

•  Canning and making jam is a long, hot, sticky process even today, when stoves are pretty easy to operate and kitchens have things like ceiling fans. So don't let the dainty sound of "making currant jam" fool you: picture the hottest, sweatiest task you've ever had to do, like a long hike or helping someone move in the middle of summer.  Then picture the most persnickety science lab you've ever had to do, something with lots of ingredients and heat and equipment.  Now put them together.  That's what Meg is trying to do.  And after a whole day of it...it doesn't work.

• While the note here defines "sanguinary" as "ruddy"--technically correct, I supposed, as "ruddy" means "having a reddish complexion"--I think Alcott may be using it more literally.  The word "sanguine" derives from an old Latin term for "blood", and "sanguinary" literally means "involving bloodshed."  The little boy thus described has been picking currants--juicy red berries--all day, and is now lying asleep on the ground.  So when John arrives home to find that nothing looks as it normally does, and there's a little boy on the ground covered in red liquid, he is naturally quite concerned! (p. 269)

• "countermanded" (p. 277)--revoked; taken back

• Formal calls were a rigid social structure in which people were "at home" to visitors during certain times of day and the people in their social circle would drop by for half an hour of polite chatting before moving on to someone else's.  I guess now, the prospect of visiting six different people in one afternoon is strange, but it was how things were done.  When a person called on you, you were obligated to return their call, so Amy and Jo are off to settle their social obligations.

My Noticings:

• It's this chapter about Meg and John's marriage that really makes me root for them.  Poor Meg and her jelly--boy, did I empathize with her the first time I tried to cook for Mr. S back when we were dating.  (To be fair, he had an ill-stocked bachelor's kitchen; but probably undertaking to make pancakes in a kitchen with no spatula wasn't my best idea.  They all burned and stuck and we wound up having to go out.  Thank goodness there was no company involved!) The second story, about Meg being tempted while shopping with Sallie, is sadder but I think I love it more, because I think it's ultimately what bonds Meg and John as a team.

• It's interesting that Amy and Jo pay a social call to the Kings--presumably, the same Kings for whom Meg used to work.  The Marches' social status is a bit of a puzzle--they're poor, but still considered a good family, so apparently they still move socially in wealthy circles.

Final Thoughts:


Alcott pretty much lets on that she's setting Jo up for a fall here, but even so--this is painful to read, knowing what's ahead, and when you reach the consequence of this call, you'll want to go back and shake Jo.
Question for readers:
  Amy argues that young women ought to be universally nice and polite because that's one of the only ways in which they are empowered to "repay kindnesses"; Jo argues that being selective in one's attentions is the way to live one's conscience (as she does, by shunning Mr. Tudor).  Amy believes that because the Marches are poor, they would do better not to challenge societal norms; Jo believes that morality is absolute, regardless of money or power.  Do you agree with either argument?  Explain your thoughts.