blog browsing brings new post

The Introverted Reader (http://theintrovertedreader.blogspot.com/) has a series she posts on her favorite characters.  Since i've been blog browsing a bunch lately i think i'll join her character connection weekly posting.  so, once a week we're tasked with posting a blog about our favorite literary characters.  this first one should be no surprise . . . .

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare was an absolute FAVORITE book while i was growing up.  my brother and sister both fell in love with it after i did, so my first character is Kit Tyler, the main character. 

Kit Tyler was raised in Barbados by her grandfather before the book begins.  upon the death of her grandfather and her refusal of a marriage offer, kit sails to Connecticut to live with her aunt.  moving from the tropical paradise of barbados to the puritanical new england is a HUGE culture shift for kit, and she struggles.  eventually she begins to find her place in the society, making friends with a quaker widow, children she is teaching, and of course the love interest Nat. 

Kit Tyler is one of my favorite literary characters.  she's a strong female lead who sees the need for female education when early american settlers refused female education.  she struggles with religious differences, with making friends with outcasts, and with being courted by the wrong men.  her position within the community is tenuous, as she learns the ways of early american puritans, the reader learns about life, struggles, and how easy it was to be convinced women were witches.  kit's witch trial has a much more positive ending than most of the trials of her day, but her character brings the struggles of women to light.  speare does an amazing job describing everyday life.  although this is considered a children's book, it describes the politics of civilization in ways that even adults will find fascinating.  most of the book focuses on the life of women in the town, their struggles based on gender, and their role in town life.  eventually kit decides to leave new england to return to barbados after never finding her place in society.  while thinking of returning to a barbados without her grandfather she realizes the same thing, she has no home in barbados without him.  through this final pondering of 'home' speare illuminates the plight of women, and their tie to the men in their lives.  without a grandfather in barbados kit had nothing to go to, with her cousins getting married in conecticut and her lack of fitting in she is ostrasized.  she is homeless because she no longer has a protector.  the novel finishes with Nat returning to port with a vessel of his own to provide the home for Kit that is not just a home, but a male protector too.  modern feminists may balk at the tie between a man and the idea of home, but speare writes such an endearing character in kit that her struggles with this tie between home and a man are realistic struggles for women.  developing a character who grew up in a culture where the tie between home and man was looser than the tie within puritanical society illuminates the tie and the cultural struggle kit must go through.  this book is a must read for readers of all ages!