Similarities Between Molly And Vivian In The Book 'The Orphan Train'

In any genuine friendship there are the differences between the people that spark curiosity, yet, it is similarities that draw two together to form a tight bond. This is evident in the friendship that starts between Vivian and Molly. Vivian, from outward show, does not display the slightest similarity with Molly. It is not until one examines the often tragic back stories of both that striking parallels begin to be made clear. By the time all is uncovered, the likenesses shared between Vivian and Molly far outweigh any disparities. In examining the relationship between Vivian and Molly, a perfect balance is struck in Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.

Many people have certain symbols in their life that bring them comfort and represent who they are as a person. In Christina Baker Kline’s Orphan Train, symbols function to convey Molly and Vivian’s desire to maintain their connections to their pasts, their search for self-identity, and the trauma and loss they experience. Molly’s turtle tattoo exemplifies Molly’s personal identity and represents much of the loss she has experienced as a child. The loss, trauma, identity and longing to stay connected to her loved ones that Vivian has and experiences is symbolized by her Claddagh necklace. The charm necklace that Molly wears signifies the connection to her late father, her own character, and the loss she has experienced.

Orphan Train a novel by Christina Baker Kline is a beautiful story about a seventeen year old girl named Molly Ayer who has lived in a foster home since she was nine and a ninety-one year old lady named Vivian who accepts Molly into her home and shares her life story with her for a school project. This story shows the hardship, friendship, and loneliness about the two girls and the connection with each other. The story behind the book goes back to the year 1854 when over 200,000 orphans were sent on a train to provide free labor which is the actual meaning of the orphan train. The author based the story on an orphan and the readers can see the connection between the book and the event of the real orphan train, the theme in the story of how the actual Orphan Train was, and the type of setting due to the incidents in the story compared to the real event.

The Orphan Train movement provided many children with homes during a very difficult time. Many of these children were loved and treated very well, but many were not. Many children were separated from parents and siblings for the remainder of their

Christina Baker Kline’s novel Orphan Train follows the the paths of two very similar women who are separated only by age. One of the main characters, Molly Ayer, is a seventeen-year-old high school student who has been assigned to yet another unwanted foster home. After attempting to steal a book from the local library, Molly has to help an elderly woman clean out her attic to avoid having to go to juvenile detention. The elderly woman, Vivian Daly, is the other protagonist in the story and has a past that is very similar to Molly’s. Vivian, known as Niamh Power when she was young, immigrated to America with her family from

Throughout the novel Orphan Train, there is the reoccurring importance of names for characters. Niamh receives a total of three different names in her lifetime, each name representing a different persona. Niamh is naïve and acts her age, Dorothy experiences hardships and is forced to suppress her emotions, Vivian is identified as the Neilson’s child and has a more stable home life. On the other hand, Molly has a significant name to her culture that helps her to relate to her culture with the events she has gone through in her life.

Orphan trains is a documentary about children in New York, being sent on trains to other parts of the country, in order to find families and be taken care of. There are stories from, adults that actually rode on these trains when they were children. The Orphan Trains was started by a man named Charles Loring Brace in 1854. Brace, had traveled to New York in the early 1850’s, and was horrified at the conditions of all the children he saw on the street. Brace felt that it was a duty to help these children out, and decided that the only way to help these children was to get them away from their surroundings, and send them away to be raised in nice, Christian homes around the country. So, in 1853, Brace founded the Children’s

Starting in the 1850s, there were great increases in urbanization. Movements such as The Great Migration lead to huge populations in newly industrialized cities. In addition, there was a great increase in immigration, especially from families of eastern and southern European descent. The Orphan Train Movement’s purpose was to give the thousands of children in New York City that were left without homes due to increased urbanization and industrialization a new family out west with good living conditions and values and to increase the number of farm workers. The children mostly were placed with good families, but some children were treated as slaved by their families. Additionally, most of the children were excited to work; however, some were

  In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," the main character is a woman who has been controlled and conformed to the norms of society. Louise Mallard has apparently given her entire life to assuring her husband's happiness while forfeiting her own. This truth is also apparent in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. In this story, Nora Helmer has also given her life to a man who has very little concern for her feelings or beliefs. Both of these characters live very lonely lives, and both have a desire to find out who they really are and also what they are capable of becoming. Although the characters of Nora and Louise are very much alike in many ways, their personalities

Who were the Molly Maguires? Did they really exist? These are questions asked by many people today. Some historians wonder if the Molly Maguires really did bring their secret society from England to the United States, or if the incidents blamed on them were just random accidents on which officials needed to place a blame. We may never actually know...

People of many different nationalities settled in Pennsylvania to work in the coal mines. Conflicts developed not only among people of different cultural backgrounds but also between laborers and owners of the mines. The struggle between labor and management is illustrated in the story of the Molly Maguires, an Irish group which settled in eastern Pennsylvania.

Non-fiction writings, such as a history or biography, are based on facts, real events, and real people. These writings can be presented as either objective or subjective and written in the form of personal essays, reports, and biographies. But, no matter what type non-fiction, the factual content of these writings can always be questioned as to whether or not it is actually accurate. In fact, many non-fiction sources, even if they focus on the same topic, often give different facts and information that does not match up with what another source says. As evidence, various non-fiction sources containing information on the “unsinkable” Molly Brown display multiple variations of her life story. Looking at different sources of Molly Brown’s

The book Fever by Laurie Halse Anderson is a story about the yellow fever epidemic taking over Matilda’s state of Philadelphia. Forge, the sequel too Chains also by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about Curzon’s life in the army and how he reunites with Isabel. The main characters from Fever, Matilda, and the main character from Forge and Chains, Curzon, act similar when they both feel threatened or when they are forced too act. However they act differently when it comes too responsibility. Both Matilda and Curzon are brave and stubborn, but Curzon is always hardworking and Matilda is lazy.

Forgiveness, one of the most concentrated aspects of this novel. The Author intended each character to have a specific ‘thing’ they needed to find forgiveness over. Each of the girls undoubtedly express different positions toward forgiveness. Orleanna being the mother of a deceased child, cripple child, and an abusive husband has endured the most and struggled to find both forgiveness of herself and her ex husband. The height of her need for forgiveness of herself happened just after daughter, Ruth May’s death. Orleaanna felt as if she could have prevented the accident. The youngest; as she explained later in the book toward Adah “as a mother is needed most”. In the last chapter, Orleanna revisited the burial site of Ruth May, wishing to give