The Little Girl

1.0About the Author

Katherine Mansfield Murry (14 October 1888 - 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world, and have been published in 25 languages.

2.0Central Idea

The Little Girl is a short story written by Katherine Mansfield. This story is about a little girl named Kezia who lives with her parents and grandma. She is initially very afraid of her father. As soon as she realizes that her father has left for office, her joys know no bounds. She even receives a severe beating once for her mischief. The image of her father for her is that of a giant. She even compares her father to her neighbours and finds her father very bad. But later on, her feelings for her father change from that of fear to understanding. She realizes that her father is also a nice man, it is just his responsibilities that make him harsh towards her.

3.0Child's Perception About Parents

'The Little Girl' is a short story written by Katherine Mansfield. The story presents a little girl named Kezia. Kezia lives with her mother, father and grandmother. Kezia's father is a busy man. He is so much lost in his work that he finds no time for his family. Since he is an over disciplined man, he is very rude with Kezia. He never shows any soft feeling for his little daughter. All he does is giving her a perfunctory kiss rather than a loving one.

Kezia fears her father and tries to avoid him. His presence at home frightens Kezia and she feels relieved when her father goes to his office. Kezia is so afraid of her father that she even stutters in front of him. He appears to her very harsh, rude and critical. Her grandmother wants her to understand her parents better and asks her to go to the drawing room to chat with them. But she always finds them indifferent towards her. When her father gets home from work; it is Kezia's job to remove his shoes. One day her grandmother suggests that she should prepare a pin-cushion for her father's birthday.

4.0Overly Strict Parents

Kezia stitches the three sides of the pin-cushion casing. Now she wants to stuff it with something. In her mother's room, she finds many sheets of fine paper on the bed table. She tears them off into small pieces and fills the pin-cushion and stitches the fourth side.

By mistake, she has used the paper which contains her father's important speech which is to be delivered the next day for the Port Authority. Though she accepts her mistake and tries to explain the reasons behind it, her father is too angry to listen to anything and punishes her with a ruler on her palms. Hours later she sobs bitterly and says to her grandmother, "What did God make fathers for?" Her grandmother tries to pacify her by saying that she has tried to explain to father but he has been too upset to listen tonight. But the child never forgot anything. Next time whenever she sees him she quickly puts both hands behind her back and a red colour flew into her cheeks.

5.0Realization Through Compassion

One evening she sees Mr. Macdonald playing with his five children, laughing and enjoying with them. This convinces Kezia that all fathers are not alike; some are loving and caring like Mr. Macdonald and some are rude like her father. But soon her attitude towards her father changes. One day, her mother is to be taken to the hospital and her grandmother accompanies her. Kezia is left alone in the house with a cook. The day is fine, but the night was a different problem. Kezia has a nightmare. She screams and that wakes up her father. Her father carries her to his bedroom and makes her warm and comfortable on his bed. He asks her to rub her feet with his legs and warm them. She feels very safe and comfortable with him. It is now she realises that her father is not a cruel man and he too loves and cares for her in his own way. He has to work the whole day to provide for his family and is too tired by the evening and play with her. Now she begins to understand him and feels that her hatred for him has been wrong.

6.0Recall

• The story depicts a little girl named Kezia, who lived with her mother, father and grandmother.
• Kezia's father was a busy man. Being an over disciplined man, he was rude with Kezia.
• Kezia was afraid of her father and used to avoid him.
• His presence at home frightened Kezia and she felt relieved when her father went to his office.
• Kezia was so afraid of her father that she stuttered in front of him. He appeared to her as harsh, rude and critical.
• Her grandmother suggested that she should prepare a pin-cushion for her father's birthday.
• Kezia stitched the three sides of the pin-cushion casing.
• In her mother's room, she found many sheets of fine paper on the bed table.
• She tore them off into small pieces and filled the pin-cushion and stitched the fourth side.
• By mistake, she had used the paper which contained her father's important speech which was to be delivered the next day for the Port Authority.
• Though she accepted her mistake and tried to explain the reasons behind it, her father was too angry to listen to anything and punished her with a ruler on her palms.
• Hours later she sobbed bitterly and said, "What did God make fathers for?"
• One evening she saw Mr. Macdonald playing with his five children, laughing and enjoying with them.
• This convinced Kezia that all fathers are not alike; some are loving and caring like Mr. Macdonald and some are rude like her father.
• But soon her attitude towards her father changed.
• One day, her mother had to be taken to the hospital and her grandmother accompanied her.
• Kezia was left alone in the house with a cook. Kezia had a nightmare.
• She screamed and that woke up her father.
• Her father carried her to his bedroom and made her warm and comfortable on his bed.
• He asked her to rub her feet with his legs and warm them. She felt very safe and comfortable with him.
• It was now she realised that her father was not a cruel man. He loved and cared for her in his own way.
• He had to work the whole day to provide for his family and was too tired by the evening and play with her. Now she began to understand him and felt that her hatred for him had been wrong.

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