The themes of fortitude and endurance are prominent in Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. Field also emphasizes the desirability of looking on the bright side of things—of maintaining hope. Almost from the beginning of her existence, Hitty finds herself in predicaments that call for great patience. Only a few days after the old peddler has put the finishing touches on her mountain-ash body and Phoebe has finished her wardrobe, Hitty is lost in a church, into which Phoebe has smuggled her, and where of course, a doll has no business.

(Several of Hitty's trials come about as a result of a child's disobedience or spiteful behavior.) Hitty accidently drops out of Phoebe's muff, and spends cold and lonely days on the floor of the church.

When Phoebe confesses her disobedience, Andy, the chore-boy, brings Hitty home. Meanwhile, Hitty has been frightened by...