Hatchet, Anne of Green of Gables and the Great Gilly Hopkins: Children Education

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Anne of Green Gables
Hatchet
The Great Gilly Hopkins
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

This paper compares the positions of three authors on the nature and function of education as brought out in their books. The writer examines the views of Paulsen Gary in the “Hatchet”, Montgomery in “Anne of Green Gables” and Paterson in “The Great Gilly Hopkins” about children’s education. The three writers emphasize the provision of a free learning environment that allows learners to discover the truth for themselves. They argue that this enables children not to be conformists but adjust to the reality that they are aware of.

Understanding the world motivates an internal psychological uprising against arising issues. The uprising fosters an attitude of inquiry that allows one to learn more. When one is afraid to question or inquire about what is happening around him or herself, then he can not learn, find the truth or love. Education should serve the function of eradicating the fear that hampers the human ability to think, relate and love. The stories as told in all the books do not relate directly to education as a subject. However, through the behavior of the characters, the proverbs, and the moral teachings contained in the different scenes about the history of Canada and Japan, one can appreciate the educational values contained in the books.

Anne of Green Gables

The book is based on the story of a couple living on the island of Prince Edward and how they struggle to take care of an impulsive girl called Anne. Montgomery examines real-life concepts such as; children’s obligations, work, children’s play, their desires, and conquest and uses them to explain the nature and function of education to children. The life of Anne is a great motivation and for young readers. she lacks education and appropriate social exposure, but her optimism is more is beyond this as barriers.

She is determined and ready to break all odds to learn through mistakes. One outstanding instance that reveals her drive to learn comes in when instead of using vanilla as an ingredient to make a cake, she uses liniment. As pointed out earlier, fear inhibits our ability to explore and learn new concepts in life. Without inquiring and trying to acquire new knowledge, there is no way one can learn. Similar attempts in the same vein included; drowning a mouse in “the plum-pudding source and making a rather ridiculous prayer” (Montgomery, p. 42).

As a new girl in Green Gables, Anne did not have any friends until she met Diana. A tragedy occurred when Diana visited Anne and Anne offered her wine instead of tea (Montgomery, p. 120). Diana went home drunk and her mother banned her association with Anne. She had imagined Anne intoxicated Diana. Anne returned to the lonely days spending time alone. At school, Anne meets Gilbert but the two fail to agree right from the first day. Gilbert teased and pulled her red hair causing her to be angry with him. This chapter explains how Anne adapted to her company.

With time, Anne’s character changes with continued exposure to her new life situations. She turns her attention to academic pursuit with determination. Miss Stacy who is her teacher identifies “Anne’s intelligence and persuades her to join a special group of students who were to sit an entrance exam to join Queens Academy” (Montgomery, p. 54). Anne is driven by the need to make her foster parents proud, she works hard at school and the hard work pays by earning her the Avery Scholarship to study for four years in college.

Latter, the writer points out how Anne’s character changed from a repulsive girl to a very responsible girl. She opted not to take up her scholarship for a four-year course to take care of Marilla who was just about to go blind. Anne took up a teaching job in a nearby school to be closer to Marilla and take care of her. Anne’s decision to forego the scholarship casts a dark cloud on her future as she envisioned changing her life through higher education. Even with this uncertainty about her future, Anne is still very optimistic and continues to work hard. This is indeed a can spark the minds of young readers and be a source of motivation to them to learn through the life of Anne.

Hatchet

The Hatchet features the “hard survival ways of a 13-year-old boy called Brian” (Paulsen, p. 23). Brian is left all alone in the boondocks of Canada after a plane crash. All the boy has is a small hatchet, he is in the middle of the wilderness all alone with wild animals, nothing to eat, nobody to talk to and the weather is so harsh to Brian. The situation calls for a new survival mechanism which Brian quickly adapts to. He went out to put up a shelter for himself using the hatchet, fought wild animals, and hunted for food all with the small hatchet. Besides these problems, Brian’s life is filled with memories of the separation of his parents.

The Hatchet presents a lot of moral and social issues that are important to the learning of young readers. The boy’s adventure in the wilderness and how he was able to learn and adapt to this type of life are exceptionally amazing. The book does not point out any school-related issues to connect to education however, through the survival tactics and the life of Brian, the book is quite resourceful to young readers.

The boy was rescued from the wilderness after two months, his behaviors and attitudes had changed from what he was previously. Education aims at imparting skills to those who go through the system. It should change one’s attitudes as well as their social perception. It can either be formal, informal, or non-formal. Formal education is a form of education that follows a particular curriculum designed to achieve certain objectives. Informal education refers to a learning process that we acquire through interaction with others or the environment. One can rightly say that Brian acquired skills and knowledge of survival in the new environment through informal education.

The boy’s moving story contains more teachings for young readers on how endurance is important. When the pilot in Brian’s plane died of a heart attack, Brian took over and flew the plane till it ran out of fuel. The plane then crashed leaving the boy injured. He had set out on a mission to look for his father, who had divorced his mother, and now he is all alone in the wilderness, no shelter, no food yet he did not give up (Paulsen, p. 45). He struggled with the hard life till the end when he was rescued from the wilderness.

Anyone reading the Hatchet will be amazed by the creativity that the young Brian develops with time to adapt to the living conditions. Brian learns how to make fire, hunt and kill animals for food, fish and make a shelter for himself. These are skills he was forced to learn in a short period to fit in his new habitat. Towards the end of the book, Brian encounters another tragedy, this time not just the porcupine that shot the quills at him or the moose that had pushed him into the lake. It was the tornado that destroyed his shelter. The boy still struggled to put up another shelter for himself. Nothing seems to stop Brian from his struggles to survive in the wildness.

The Great Gilly Hopkins

This is another thrilling story full of educational lessons for young readers. This book features Gilly the girl who appears to have no parents. The girl is hopelessly in search of her mother and home. She is not happy with her foster parents at “great Gilly Hopkins” (Paterson, p. 72). Although the institution is known in the country for brilliance, the girl does not like some of the characters that are in her foster family. First is “Maime Trotter, who according to Gilly is fat and illiterate but is her guardian” (Paterson, p. 66). Gilly can’t imagine putting up with this lady as a guardian. Then there is the “freaky seven-year-old boy and finally the shrunken black man” (Paterson, p. 112).

These characters make Gilly’s life at Hopkins a real nightmare. Miss Harris who is her teacher also joins in the team of the people making Gilly’s life at Hopkins unbearable. The book presents a touching story with great love and compassion to engage the reader in the efforts of the young girl in search of a new home and her mother. Gilly seems to turn a cold shoulder to anyone trying to develop a friendship with her. Being in an environment, she has no choice but to cope up with this sort of life.

Gilly is also confronted by the problem of racism. She dislikes all the black people who are members of her foster family. Her racist attitude makes her unable to put up with fellow students, her teacher, and the foster parents. At some point, Gilly embarks on a plan to run away from the foster family. She steals money from the library to buy a ticket to San Francisco to see her mother but her plans are scuttled by the police who arrest her. When Gilly returned to her foster family, she quickly learned to live in the conditions set by her foster family, learned to appreciate fellow students and the teacher. This change in character is an indication of a learning process that changed her attitudes and enabled her to adapt to the new life under the foster family.

The book emphasizes the importance of providing children with a comfortable living environment for them to learn. They need to feel appreciated, valued, and loved by both the elders and peers. These values make them develop an association with those who are close to them. Gilly developed a strong bond with the mother and cannot imagine life in the hands of other people who are not her mother. It takes her time to accept them as capable of providing her similar care as her mother.

Conclusion

Two books “Anne of Green Gables” and “the Great Gilly of Hopkins” present facts about two different girls in the hands of foster parents. Anne was sent out of a foster home to an elderly couple on a farm in Prince Edward Island. The girl had problems associating with the foster parents, adapting to the new life, and coping with fellow students. School life changes her slowly from a repulsive girl to a gentle and responsible girl. She is determined, works hard, and eventually wins a prestigious Avery scholarship. The book demonstrates how education can develop one socially, psychologically, and mentally.

“The Great Gilly of Hopkins” presents the life of Gilly under the Hopkins foster home. The girl feels frustrated by three characters that are part of the foster family. Her find is fixed to looking for her beautiful mother who cannot match fat and illiterate Maime Trotter who is standing in as a foster mother. But since this is where life pushes her, she must learn how to survive and that is what Gilly eventually does.

The Hatchet on the other hand is based on the hard survival skills of the young Brian in the wilderness of Canada. The boy who finds himself in the wilderness all alone with wild animals and a hatchet as the only tool learns to solve every problem as it comes without giving up. The first is on how to get food, shelter, and protection from the fierce wild animals. The three books though focused on different characters are all engaging to the minds of the young readers they target. Through the life, struggles, victory, and desires of the young characters, the writers can appeal and educate young readers.

Works Cited

Montgomery, Maud. Anne of Green Gables. New York: Macmillan, 1995.
Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999.
Paulsen, Gary. Hatchet. New York: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2007.

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