sentimental or sad.....

In the commentary I researched while reading a Wide Wide World there was a commentary about the sentimentality that there was present in the writing. The story is that of explaining the depressing story of her personal situation and how horrible her life keeps getting.  This idea of discussing the depressing and sadness of her life could be consider sad.  But if we look at it the tone in which she takes is that of emotional and torn.  She feel that she is in a hard place because she wants to love her family but they treat her poorly and never make her feel like she is worthy or valued. This causes an interesting growth process for her. She learns to accept her circumstance and to not let it affect her. We could feel sorry for her and like her audience feel that she is being abused and deserves better or we can learn from her life.

This book gained a lot of praise and had fourteen editions printed in two years but why? I feel that the reason for this is because this book gave a real understanding of how hard life was at the time. The character not only survives these hardships but she also finds god and gains confidence. This would resonate in the audiences of the time who would read about a person in a similar circumstance surviving a harder time then their own and still keeping faith.  I felt that after the many repetitive themes the one that made me the most understanding is the idea that at the end of the day you must continue on and find peace in yourself and if that means being sentimental and only think about the small positive things then whatever gets you through the day.