A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

[sophia_sol]

I reread this book because I recently discovered that Essie and I, based on the different art in our respective childhood editions of this book, had entirely different opinions on what race Becky is. Essie's book pictured Becky as black, and mine pictured Becky as white. So of course I needed to reread to discover whether the text itself gives any indication.

What I discovered is that the book doesn't say anything totally conclusive, but a couple of clues make me think that the author intended her as white.

First: the only time her skin colour is mentioned is a description of her face being red from the effort of not crying. People of many races can get reddened skin, but the effect is more pronounced on paler skin.

Second, and I think this is more telling, when Becky is rhapsodizing about the unknown "Indian gentleman" moving in next door there is a list of three things she hopes about him; two of them are obviously exoticizing (hoping he's a heathen and wears a turban) and the third is that she hopes he is black. To me this says that she sees dark skin as exotic as well, which I think she wouldn't be so likely to do if she herself were dark-skinned.

Finally, the author is clearly of her era when it comes to a lot of her perspectives (eg HELLO ORIENTALISM) and so I really don't think she would have failed to mention Becky's race and probably include some unfortunate stereotypes if she intended her to be anything but white.

But of course death of the author and all that, and I think it would be valid to choose to read Becky as whatever race you choose, despite the all the above, since none of it is 100% conclusive.

Anyways, the book is in general extremely charming and I love it a lot, when I'm not busy being frustrated with its classism and racism and other such things.

Comments

[bluemeridian]

In a similar vein to the author being of her era, listening to bits of The Secret Garden on audiobook recently was a very different experience to having had it as one of my favorite books as a child and young adult! I have a great deal of nostalgia for it and still love it for its strengths, but it's not as much of a pleasure to actually re-read as it once was.

I'm not as versed with A Little Princess (there was no gardening, after all), but I agree with you and can't imagine FHB casually failing to shine a spotlight on Becky's race if she'd intended for her to be other than white. On the other hand, books should always be willfully interpreted by the reader in whatever fashion they choose. ;)

[cahn]

Ahahaha. I am reading Secret Garden with my five-year-old right now, and I find myself having to frequently stop and talk about how people thought very differently in the old days than they do now, and we've learned some things in the meantime... It's still a charming book, and I love it, but wow, it's a very different experience reading it to someone where I'm concerned with the things she might be picking up from it!

[sophia_sol]

oh goodness, yes, that really would be a different experience! I've never had the experience of reading books to impressionable small children so I've never had to think about books in that way, but gosh, it sounds like work. Good on you for being up to explaining these things to your child.

[sophia_sol]

Yeah, The Secret Garden definitely also has its issues, while still having strengths! It's always a shame to reread childhood faves and discover their issues. I was never as madly in love with it as a kid as some people are - idk, I think I was weirded out by all the stuff about Magic. So rereading that one as an adult didn't disappoint me in the way it might have, because I wasn't coming into it with high expectations.

books should always be willfully interpreted by the reader in whatever fashion they choose. ;)

MTE