The Wide, Wide World

In Warner’s The Wide, Wide World, Ellen, the main character, has to deal with a dying mother and a father who has never been present in her life. Ellen’s mother is diagnosed to move across the world and leave her only child behind. Ellen copes with this situation like an adult even when her only friend is leaving her forever.

Ellen never really has true parents in this novel because her father is always away doing work and her mother is barely hanging on for her life. For the parent to be absent in the child’s life is portrayed as normal. Ellen is used to her father being gone, “Well, mamma, that is bad; but he has been away a great deal before, and I am sure we were always very happy” (23). Having already been disappointed by her father, Ellen is now let down by her mother. Her father left them then she asks, “Not and leave me, mother?” (23). Parents are portrayed by disappointment and not being there for their children. By having Ellen as the protagonist, the reader gets the image of the parents as the antagonist. This type of style presents a different point of view that the readers are not used to.

The role of the father and mother is very different in The Wide, Wide World. The father is not looked upon negatively even though he is always gone, but when the mother has to leave, Ellen is crushed. The mother has a more important role of being the nurturer for the family while the father is the supplier. Because the father is away making money it is acceptable for him to be gone. Ellen’s mother is needed in her daughter’s life but she would rather listen to the doctor than consider her daughter’s life. When Ellen is sobbing over the bad news, her mother stops her and tells her not to rebel. She deeply wants her daughter to trust in God, “Remember, dear Ellen, God sends no trouble upon his children but in love; and though we cannot see how, he will no doubt make all this work for our good” (24). The father really has no role in Ellen’s life. She is used to having no father, “The breakfast-table was still standing, and her father gone” (29).

Even though Ellen’s parents are not present in her life, she still loves her parents with all her heart. Her father is not present but I feel that she still cares about him and doesn’t have any hard feelings towards him. Ellen’s mother wants God to be her father, “He will, my dear daughter,--he will, if you will only put your trust in him, Ellen” (30). Ellen truly loves her mother and is going to miss her when she leaves. Even though her mother might be “betraying” her she still loves her dearly. Ellen will miss all of the great times they shared together, “But she began to think, too, as she watched it, how few more times she would be able to do so—how soon her pleasant tea-making would be over—and the desolate feeling of separation began to come upon her before the time” (26). Ellen understands that parents need to leave sometimes and she copes with their absence. She understands that her parents know best.

Ellen’s parents are hardly present in her life and that is a common thing for her. She loves her parents with all her heart even though they are not a strong part of her life anymore. She will never forget the times they did have and their absence was the normality of the time period.