Caddie Woodlawn Themes & Characters

Caddie Woodlawn Themes and Characters

Caddie Woodlawn involves a relatively small cast of characters, and Caddie is the most developed. Lively, intelligent, and engaging, the heroine remains likeable even when she gets into trouble; her misadventures often result from good intentions not thoroughly thought out.

In the course of the story, Caddie's childish spontaneity gives way to an equally genuine but more reasoned and thoughtful outlook. Her strongest characteristic, and one the author presents with obvious fondness, is an eagerness to be active, to learn, and to do things herself. Her father's support of her efforts is powerful and affecting. Caddie learns skills traditionally relegated to boys, such as fixing clocks and household items. Toward the end of the book, she asks her cousin Annabelle to teach her quilt-making. Caddie masters the skill and then teaches it to her brothers, who are just as eager to learn. The other children in the book...
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