Theme Of 'Never Give Up In Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever, 1793'

In the beginning Grandfather refuses to believe there is a fever until it hit them mother falls ill and they are forced to flee Mattie try’s to stay but mother and grandfather and Eliza force her to go this kills Mattie. But she must go. Grandfather finds a wagon but soon they get kicked off. Mattie finds food but soon realizes that they need more then she falls ill. Mattie wakes in bush hill ( a hospital for the ones with fever) She insists on leaving but is not well enough to go.

Elaine and Robert, Mattie's two unmarried children, along with other family and friends, are encouraging her to be what they expect a seventy-eight year old woman to be. They talk about how she needs to get rest because she is slowing down and can't keep going as steady as she seems to think. When she decided to try and help a young juvenile, Wesley Benfield, become a better person by taking him to church and offering him to stay the night with her, Robert thought that Mattie was sick.

Soon after being deserted on the road, grandfather comes down with a summer grippe and becomes helpless. Mattie then needs to take care of them both by finding food and water. This shows responsibility because she not only had to take care of herself, but of her grandfather too with no help from anyone, and no one to tell her what to do.

Fever 1793 is a historical fiction novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson that describes how Yellow Fever affected lives of everybody during the three months of sickness and panic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Life today is more straightforward than it was in 1793 because of the technology. Fever 1793 is a story about a young girl, Matilda “Mattie” Cook, who faces challenges surviving in a Yellow Fever- struck city (Philadelphia). Mattie loses her grandfather on her journey of survival and her mother is nowhere to be seen, leaving Mattie to grow up and survive her journey alone. If the story was taking place in modern times, Mattie and the rest of Philadelphia would not struggle as much as they did in the story. The modern day technology that is here today allows this generation to progress through life smoother. Today’s technology would have a significant, positive impact on the community during 1793. If the people of Philadelphia had the knowledge of symptoms and treatments of Yellow Fever, they would have known for sure if the fever was occurring in the beginning and they would have also known how the fever was to

She did that because it showed how someone can lose most of their family and still keep moving. Nell was a little girl that had lost her mother and whole rest of her family due to yellow fever. Mattie took her in and she had been her special person for a while. Eliza and Mother Smith wanted to take her to the orphanage because she was so young and said that she couldn't take care of her since Mattie was only a teenager. But as soon as they reached the orphanage, Eliza said: “Seems she is better off with you Mattie” (183). The orphanage was so crowded and had so many children that Eliza realized that she would be better off with her special person. Eliza didn't want to break up Mattie and Nell since they were both helping each other. That is why Eliza, Nell, and Mattie all cared and helped each other to have a great

When students are bullied, they are encouraged to speak up about it to a teacher or some other adult; however, many do not, because they may think their cases are not important enough to be told, because no one will believe their stories, or because they are embarrassed by what happened. As these cases turn from simple bullying to a more severe event, this inability to speak up only increases. Laurie Halse Anderson shows this effect with being raped, as well as the emotional damage that goes with it. Through Melinda’s experiences in Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing reflects the time in which it was written, her views on teens and the adolescent years, and her early life.

We wouldn't ever disappoint ourselves because if we never gave up we would eventually reach our goal. Now Mattie was only one of the many characters who was showed the pride in never to give up. Grandfather was one as well. In the story him and Mattie end up in a shelter after Mattie becomes sick. Well when she all better they try putting her in a orphanage because she supposedly doesn't have any family members. But grandpa comes and saves the day by not giving up on matte because he fights for her right to stay with him. He could have just had her stay in a safer place but he knew she wouldn't like that at

I know this because Mattie would have not told the sick people that you will not die. As a result more people weren't afraid for their loved ones. So Mattie had more hope. And she actually spread more hope the town. And to the people living in the town.

Mattie is a fourteen year old girl, who has the responsibilities of an adult, which was expected of people that age in this time period. “[Mattie] kept his books for him”(keeping the books means keeping track of the money) said Mattie when she was explaining why she knew how much money her father had (Portis 15). This quote is interesting because it exhibits the amount of responsibility that was put upon her even at a young age. Also, Mattie seems to have the best math skills in her family despite having a mother and father much older than her. Mattie told Yarnell, (who is an African American that works for Mattie's family) “Yarnell said ‘you can't stay in the city by yourself’ [Mattie] said ‘It will be alright’” (Portis 26). Mattie is going to stay in the city by herself without her mom knowing when she will return, or what her sleeping arrangements are. It is strange because she is a young girl in a city alone with nobody to protect her, and her mother has no idea what is going on. Mattie told the sheriff “[I’am] looking for the man who shot and killed my father” (Poti 59). Mattie is not asking the sheriff to find the man and bring him to

Mattie had so many traumatizing events occur in just a few months, yet she stayed strong and fought through the pain day by day. One of these events were when she tried to leave Philadelphia. Her and her grandfather were on a cart leaving Philadelphia, When they got thrown off because they thought that Mattie’s grandpa had Yellow Fever. All of their belongings were on that cart. Now Mattie and her grandfather faced starvation in the middle of nowhere.

In the book Mattie is definitely a strong character. When Taylor meets Mattie she is surprised. Back in Pittman, where Taylor is from a woman would never own and run a tire store all by herself. Mattie may not be gaining much

Lastly, Mother helps Mattie. One example is, Mother insisted Mattie should stay away when she had the fever. Another is,

Anderson wrote, “ Eliza had just reached the bottom step when I slammed into her. She wrapped her arms around me” (168).This is significant because Eliza takes Mattie into her own home, not even thinking twice, but thinking that Mattie needs the caring of a family. Although Eliza is not related to Mattie in any sort of way, she still worries about her well being. Therefore, Mattie accepts her into her life and allows Eliza to nurture her and keep her safe.

Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, starts her year off with a terrible start. She’s stuck with a mean history teacher, by who she calls Mr. Neck and a whole bunch of other weird teachers like her English teacher of who she calls, Hairwomen, because of her crazy, uncombed

Mattie is now in the initiation step of the journey, where she will go through four parts; the first part is the challenges and the second is the abyss. Anywhere that Mattie went she faced challenges as how the hero’s journey’s writes, “Whichever direction the voyage takes… [she] puts [herself] more and more at risk, emotionally and physically…. always seem to strike the initiate’s greatest weakness: [her] poorest skills… [Her] most vulnerable emotions” (Harris and Thompson 51). A challenge that we see Mattie puts herself at risk and show her weakness is when see faces Tom Chaney and says,