POINT OF VIEW

The point of view is decidedly omniscient, and utilizes the stylistic awareness of a reader. The narrator, on numerous occasions, informs the reader of what will be coming in subsequent chapters or elaborates on lessons the girls learned from their mistakes. For a modern reader used to a less intrusive approach on the part of the narrator, the elaboration tends to get monotonous and could even be interpreted as didactic. Before exercising too much criticism of LMA however, we must remember that at the time nearly all literature intended for girls was in the form of diaries, poetry, memoirs or sermons. Of course there were the tabloid newspapers, but these were not intended for young readers of any sex. Most religious groups in the northeast frowned heavily on fiction, entertaining the philosophy that the primary purpose of all literature was to teach. Certainly LMAÂ’s father would have been of this persuasion.

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