The story “Caddie Woodlawn”, written by Carol Ryrie Brink, talks about the pioneer days of a girl, Caddie, who acts like a tomboy. Caddie is an adventurous girl. She would rather hunt and plow than sew and bake. She would take every chance she gets to beat her brother’s dares. Caddie is friends with Indian John’s tribe, which terrifies most of the neighbors. There is a rumor saying that local Indians are going to attack the white. It turns out the white people are the ones planning to do the killing. Caddie and Mr. Woodlawn defend local Indians from getting Killed and try to calm down the conflicts between the white and Indians. Indiana John speaks and clarifies his peaceful intentions by moving away. Before leaving, Indian John asks Caddie to look after his dog, Nero, and his scalp belts until he comes back.
Even though people start with two empty hands, success could still be achieved in the company of working hard, which is the recurring theme in this novel. Working hard takes time, dedication, and self-discipline, but the rewards are worth it because it leads to earning more money, raising the social status, boosting one’s confidence, and having a better and happier life. Mr. Woodlawn makes Tom, Warren, and Caddie plow the far field, telling them to earn everything with their “two own hands”. He encourages Caddie to use her “eager fingers” to finish her very first job of repairing clocks. He, however, feels uncomfortable having a good fortune while none of the fortune comes from his contributions. Mr. Woodlawn imparts the idea of working hard to Caddie and her brothers through conversations, example, and encouragement. Mr. Woodlawn doesn’t want to inherit his grandfather’s position because he didn’t earn it rightfully. Mr. Woodlawn makes the children very industrious, giving them daily work from day to day. By inspiring Caddie in completing the clock repairing job, Mr. Woodlawn is instilling in her a lifelong work ethic and the important life lesson of hard work. Success doesn't just happen by accident; it requires hard work. Working hard with two hands, rather than depending on others, is one of the main morals of life and leads to self-development.
No matter what the color of the skin is or what the race is, each single person should be treated equally as long as he is a human being. Discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity would be problematic and it causes many misunderstandings, conflicts, and damages among people. White settlers think local Indians are weird and frightened because they have face tattoos and they look muddy because of the skin color. Because of the fearness, white settlers started a rumor that there would be an Indian massacre. The truth is that white settlers are the ones who do the killing. Appearance differences among different races or ethnicities always exist, but this should not be the reason for people to discriminate, hurt, or bully others. Instead, people should recognize the appearance differences and take the action of kindness to others. By doing so, many misunderstandings or conflicts could be prevented and possibly become friends, just like Caddie and Indiana John. It is unfair for Native Americans to receive the racial or ethnic discrimination when they interact with the whites. People should be kind to Native Americans, commit to racial justice for Native Americans, and work together to demolish the white supremacy.
To have a happy life, people need to believe in themselves and to be who they want to be by listening to their heart. At the same time, people need to be given the opportunity to explore their true personality. Caddie is an 11-year-old redhead girl who enjoys being outside hunting, doing farm work, or running wild with her brothers with Tom and Warren like a tomboy than being inside baking, sewing, doing housework like a lady. Caddie’s tomboyish behaviors are defended by her father. Caddie herself is a tomboy and loves to take adventure with her brothers outside. She only listens to what her heart tells to do instead of being told what to do. Caddies’ unique personality is made by the freedom her parents gave so she could explore herself and find out who she is and what she likes. Sometimes other people will make choices for people that they think are good. But others are not them and cannot know exactly what they really want. This may result in the daily melancholy mood or arguments. This is why people want to make their own choices, but not be decided by others. Others should offer people the opportunity to explore themselves, even if that would make mistakes. People should choose by themselves and not be affected by others, as some choices may be wiser than other choices.
Caddie Woodlawn is a very interesting and eye-opening book of how life was in pioneer times and how everybody was there for each other’s backs. Specifically, this book addresses the issue that Living an uptight life and being very hard-working and industrious is very important. Only through working hard could people travel to success. Also, The tension between Indians and pioneers was also very malicious. This informs readers that people should be kind and treat others equally rather than judge them by their skin color or appearance. Moreover, when other people think a decision or option is better than all the others, people should be the boss of themselves. Even though one may be unrelenting, it is still better to make the decision by himself, not others. Compared to “Little house on the Prairie”, I like Caddie Woodlawn more. Both are historical fiction, but Caddie Woodlawn has more realistic events. I would suggest this book to anyone who is into learning history in a fun way.
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