SPOILER ALERT! If you have not read Little Woman and you don't want to know what happens then now would be a time to stop reading. You have been warned.
Jo and Laurie are close, have been close and so it seems to all, especially Laurie, that the two of them would get married. However, Jo does not feel that she can love him. It comes to a difference between the love of friends and the love of a partner in life. The two of them fought constantly, and they would not be a good pair. When I was younger and I read that Jo refuses Laurie's offer of marriage, I threw the book. Why in the world would she refuse a man who could offer everything? I have already admitted that I used to wish for my Laurie to come along. Along with that comes with the idea that the Laurie in the book is perfect. After Jo refuses Laurie, he meets up with Amy in Europe and she calls him lazy, and rude and generally tells him that he is a terrible person. I threw the book again. How dare she attack my Laurie?! Now as "a more mature reader" I can see why she said no, and why it was a good idea. I found myself getting a little frustrated because she kept calling him "my boy" and walking arm and arm with him. (something that was a much bigger deal then than now) I was also getting mad at him when she left to go to New York and he said "It won't do any good, Jo. I have my eye on you." I kept thinking, if you know that she doesn't want to marry you, why do you keep pursuing her? Here is why, you have to try, right? Without trying, you never really know the answer and you don't get a really emotional marriage refusal. Poor Laurie.
Don't feel bad for him for too long though. Amy, self-assured, poised Amy will eventually call him out on all his faults and comfort him over it all later. Yes, less than a year after Laurie declares that Jo is the only woman for him, he asks Amy to "row the boat with him." (HA!) This is after she tells him that he has changed and that she "despises him." Frankly, as a younger reader I didn't really get why she did that. Now as an older reader, and as a high school teacher, I can see why she did this. It was something Laurie needed to hear. For a long time, he was seen as the perfect boy and was rather spoiled and thought very highly of himself. Then he receives two heavy blows. Number One was Jo's refusal of marriage, something he never thought would really happen. Number Two was Amy's attitude when he saw her in Europe. I think that he assumed Amy would be so happy to see him and fall madly in love with him. When she doesn't and instead calls out his faults, he is forced to rethink how he will go through life. In the end, Amy and Laurie return home from Europe, man and wife. Another happy ending.
Dear, sweet, patient, angelic Beth. It is hinted throughout the book that Beth will not make it to the end. And it is heartbreaking when she doesn't. I cry every single time. I like how Beth doesn't make any speeches, how it is just Jo in the room when she dies and she quietly slips away. It seems so much more tragic, and sad. How did Jo feel when she realized that Beth was gone? How terrible and hard it must be to watch someone you love slip away and know there is nothing you can do to stop it. The last line of the chapter where Beth dies ends with the thought "Beth is well at last." Tear. Actually, waterfall.
Throughout this book is the not-so-subtle Christian undertones. In the first chapter of the book, the girls are given guide books to guide them through life. They read their Bibles every morning. This family has its fair share of trials, poverty, human trials and the death of Beth but in the end, they all end happy as can be. Jo with her Professor in her school and two sons, Meg with John and her twins, Amy and Laurie with their little girl, Beth, while the original Beth is safe at home where she cannot be sick again. I remember in a literature class in college, (one of the many) where an author sometimes acts like a god to their characters. They decide who lives, who dies, who is bad, who is good etc. With some authors you can tell who they like the best depending on how they make it through the story. Our author loves everyone of the characters, even Beth. They all end happy because they live their lives based on goodness and taking care of others around them.
Book one down. Coming next is one I have not read before, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. From the virtuous to the ridiculous.
