Essay Questions

Why does Day cite Ecclesiastes when reminiscing about Cassie?

Day writes, “Aunt Cassie is by now united with her love. Grandfather Napoleon is now young and dashing once more and free from all pain. But their tragedy, their pain made their lives a rich and colourful tapestry for us to gaze at, a Berlioz requiem with its glory and mourning to listen to. Did they believe? What did they believe? We never asked these questions. Do happy children ask these questions? Ecclesiastes said, “Only this I have found, that God made man right and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions.” The citation of Ecclesiastes underscores the inquisitive nature of grownups. Day affirms that they did not pose questions concerning Cassie and Napoleon for they were not yet entangled in uncertainties during their childhoods.

What is the consequence of stigma in cases females who bear offspring out of wedlock?

Day explains, "Still later we understood the social attitude too. If a girl had a baby out of wedlock, she sinned against God and society. Society would have to support it, and that was wrong. The child had no father. That was a sin. So a stigma fell upon her. She was deprived of the baby, who was put in an orphanage, and she herself was left to starve to death. It was simple. It was bad enough.it was the warp and woof of all tragedy to us little women." The stigma is intended to discourage girls from extramarital affairs which could culminate in undesirable children. The girls who are subjected to the stigma are used as lessons to other young girls. The stigma is a strategy to promote chasteness among youthful girls.