Here is a summary of “The Little Girl” chapter and answers to your questions, drawing on the information in the sources:
Summary of “The Little Girl” 📖👧👨👧#
“The Little Girl” is a story by Katherine Mansfield about a young girl named Kezia whose feelings towards her father undergo a significant change, transforming from fear to understanding.
Initially, Kezia views her father as a terrifying figure whom she tries to avoid. Every morning, he would give her a casual kiss before leaving for work, and she would feel a sense of relief when his carriage noise faded. In the evenings, she would hear his loud voice ordering tea and the newspaper, and her mother would ask her to take off his boots. Her father’s habit of looking over his spectacles made him appear even more terrifying to her. Kezia often stuttered only when speaking to her father because she tried so hard to speak properly in front of him. She thought of him as “so big” and like “a giant”.
One day, her grandmother suggested Kezia make her father a pin-cushion for his birthday. Kezia laboriously stitched three sides but struggled to find a filling. She found many sheets of fine paper in her mother’s bedroom, tore them into tiny pieces, and stuffed her pin-cushion with them. These papers turned out to be her father’s great speech for the Port Authority, which caused a “hue and cry” in the house when it was lost. When her father discovered what she had done, he became very angry and punished her by beating her with a ruler on her little, pink palms. This incident made Kezia sob and question, “What did God make fathers for?”. Following this, she decided that “there were different sorts of fathers”.
A significant shift in Kezia’s perception occurs when her mother falls ill and goes to the hospital with her grandmother, leaving Kezia alone with Alice, the cook. One night, Kezia has her recurring nightmare about a butcher with a knife and rope. She wakes up shivering to find her father beside her bed, holding a candle. He picks her up, carries her to his big bedroom, tucks her into bed next to him, and asks her to rub her feet against his legs to get warm. As she snuggles close to him, the darkness no longer matters. Tired out, her father falls asleep before her.
This moment allows Kezia to see her father in a new light. She realises he is “not so big, after all” and that he has “no one to look after him”. She acknowledges that he works hard every day and is too tired to be like Mr. Macdonald, a neighbouring father whom she perceives as playful and affectionate. Placing her head on his chest, she hears his heart beating and exclaims, “What a big heart you’ve got, Father dear”. Through this experience, Kezia begins to understand her father as a human being who needs her sympathy and realises her changed feelings towards him.
Answers to Your Questions:#
“Kezia’s efforts to please her father resulted in displeasing him very much. How did this happen?” 😩
- Kezia wanted to make a gift for her father’s birthday. Her grandmother suggested she make a pin-cushion out of yellow silk.
- To fill the pin-cushion, Kezia found a great many sheets of fine paper in her mother’s bedroom and, not knowing their importance, tore them into tiny pieces to stuff her gift.
- Unbeknownst to Kezia, these papers were actually her father’s important speech for the Port Authority, which was subsequently lost.
- When her father discovered that Kezia had destroyed his speech, he became extremely angry and punished her severely by beating her with a ruler. Thus, her attempt to please him with a handmade gift led to his great displeasure and her punishment.
“Kezia decides that there are “different kinds of fathers”. What kind of father was Mr Macdonald, and how was he different from Kezia’s father?” 🏡👨👩👧👦
- Kezia observed Mr Macdonald, her neighbour, through a gap, playing “tag” with his children in the evening. He appeared to be a loving, playful, and affectionate father who enjoyed spending time with his kids.
- In contrast, Kezia’s own father was initially portrayed as a strict, fearful, and undemonstrative figure. He often appeared stern, would order people around, and even resorted to physical punishment. Kezia felt that her father was too tired from work to be like Mr. Macdonald, suggesting he was hardworking but lacked the same playful interaction. The sources indicate that her perception changed over time, but her initial view of her father was starkly different from her view of Mr. Macdonald.
“How does Kezia begin to see her father as a human being who needs her sympathy?” 🥰💖
- Kezia’s perception of her father begins to change when her mother and grandmother go to the hospital, leaving her alone with only Alice the cook and her father at home.
- One night, Kezia experiences her recurring nightmare about a butcher, waking up terrified. Instead of her grandmother, it is her father who comes to her side, offering comfort. He picks her up, carries her to his own bedroom, tucks her in, and tells her to warm her feet against his legs.
- In this vulnerable moment, lying close to him, Kezia realises that her father is “not so big, after all” and seems to have “no one to look after him”. She acknowledges his hard work and weariness. As she listens to his heartbeat, she feels a profound connection and warmth, concluding, “What a big heart you’ve got, Father dear”. This intimate and comforting experience allows her to see beyond his stern exterior, understanding him as a human being with his own vulnerabilities and a deep, albeit undemonstrative, capacity for care, thus eliciting her sympathy.