I'll admit. I am not too terribly far into Wide Wide World, but I have to ask. When does this book stop being depressing? All of the characters that we have met so far have been either totally obsessed with their sorrow at leaving each other behind of a little indifferent about the whole thing. I was especially struck by the indifference of the father. I mean, does he not see that this might be the last time his little girl and his wife are together? The whole thing is just so sad, and not seeing any other sides of the characters makes them a little one dimensional.
Also, the father comes off as kind of a jerk. I mean, doesn't he see all of the pain he's causing? At the same time though, logically, his decisions make the most sense. It makes sense not to wake her up, to surprise her with the fact that she's leaving, but it still seems so cruel. Since we only see one side of the father it makes him easier to hate, making it easier to assume a sympathetic attitude towards Ellen.
On the boat Ellen continues to be angelic, bearing up against adversity and revealing to the stranger that her fatal flaw is loving her mother more than she loves God, understandable for a young girl.
It is only once she gets to the farm that we see anything other than the sad pale angel we've been pining with all these chapters. The girl doesn't want to make her own bed and doesn't think of her dirty socks causing her aunt any grief. She comes off, not as an angel, but a spoiled brat. Even though the change was kind of abrupt, when it happened I sort of sighed in relief. Finally there was something about this character that I could maybe see as real.
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