Book Analyses on Moral Life and Theme Little Women

Morality in Little Women

In Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, Josephine March is able to be moral despite the great pressures and responsibilities imposed on her by her gender, the economic and political circumstances of the time, her role as elder sister, and her immense creative talent. However, Jo is also notoriously stubborn, proud, and easily provoked to anger, vices that consistently challenge her moral resolve throughout her adolescence and early adulthood, but ultimately Jo is able to overcome these vices with the help of moral guidance given to her from her family and upbringing so that she matures into a humble, charitable, and temperate character, far more mature than the fiery character of her youth.

The first instance of Jo's vices getting the best of her is when she remains angry at Amy for burning her manuscript even after Amy apologizes. The next day Jo does not warn Amy about the thin ice when they go ice skating, saying "no matter whether she heard or not, let her take care of herself" (Alcott 145). Subsequently, Amy falls into the freezing water and Jo finally realizes that her "bitter temper" had gotten the best of her, to the point that her sister almost died. Luckily, Jo still tries to lead a moral life even if her vices get a hold of her, so that afterwards she acknowledges "her hardness of heart" and looks for advice from her mother. At this point the story reveals the source of moral inspiration for the main characters, because Jo finds guidance by looking to her family, and specifically her parents. Her mother encourages Jo that "we all have our temptations, some far greater than yours, and it often takes us all our lives to conquer them," and uses herself as an example of someone who has led a moral life through hard work and prayer (Alcott 147-148). This allows Jo to realize that although she struggles, she is not an immoral person to the core, and thus has hope of leading the kind of life she strives for.

A good example of Jo overcoming her vices out of a sense of charity and generosity can be found when her mother must travel to visit their injured father. Seeking a way to contribute to the cause, Jo cuts all of her hair off and sells it, saying that "it will be good for my vanity, I getting too proud of my wig" (Alcott 306). Although Jo does eventually mourn the loss of her hair a little bit, she demonstrates a humility and dedication to charity only made possible by her desire to lead a moral life even in the face of her own vices. Cutting her hair off demonstrates this in a dramatic way, because as one of her sisters exclaims (the text is not clear which sister), Jo's hair is apparently her "one beauty," so her decision to cut it off for her family can be seen as a dramatic and visible triumph of her desire for a moral life over her own pride, selfishness, and vanity.

To truly understand Jo's development over the course of the whole novel, it is important to look at one more example of Jo's struggle with morality, and that is her time spent writing "sensational" stories and her feelings at having to cut "all the moral reflections" from them (Alcott 647). Jo's time spent researching the "sensational" "affected her, for she was feeding heart and fancy on dangerous and unsubstantial food," and she is only saved from this divergence into immorality once again by the assistance of an eventual family member, namely, Mr. Bhaer. Just as Jo's mother finds moral inspiration from Mr. March, so too does Jo find the moral inspiration she needs from the man she will eventually marry. She studies him and finds that "it was benevolence that worked the miracle," demonstrating how Jo's transition from child to adult occurs alongside her journey towards a moral life, because she has grown to the point where she finds her moral inspiration from an equal, rather than a parent (Alcott 653). The fact that Jo is able to turn her life around by studying the "simple, true, and lovely" nature of Mr. Bhaer demonstrates that Jo has matured and grown over the course of the novel so that by the end, she has found her ideal equal, the person that will ensure she maintains her moral standing for the rest of her life.