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guiding star that somehow enlightens the path toward pure, judgeless thoughts and sincere hope
for humanity. He proves that love is essential for human survival. It is a short story with
extremely moving and thrilling plot. That describes the destiny of a little Maggie, who is
hopelessly diseased (some years ago she fell out from the window and injured her spine).
The main character of the story is a little hopelessly diseased girl, named Maggie. She
has a brother John, who is 12, and a sister Kate, who has 10 or 11 years. Maggie`s mother is
dead; a poor little girl is alone in this big cruel world. However, the world is not without good
people. Joe Thompson, the wheelwright, had a good heart, and it was very tender in some places.
He liked children, but life has not given him his own children. Joe had a mind and strong temper,
and exactly this helped him make a decision to take a girl to his house. Then, this is Joe`s wife
Mrs. Thompson. She happened to be childless, and was not a woman of saintly temper. She was
against this child in her house. Joe Thompson considered his wife vinegar-tempered, he was
afraid of her reaction concerning this little child. Mrs. Thompson tried to hide her hostility while
communicating with Maggie, but love would save the world! Mrs. Thompson became kinder, her
heart filled up with the light and love. The sweetness of that sick girl was so honey to her soul,
that she carried her in her heart as a precious burden.
The conflicts in the story are Joe and Mrs. Thompson's feelings about Maggie. Joe could
not find it in himself to let Maggie go to the poor house all alone and sick so Joe decided to take
her home. However, Mrs. Thompson had the opposite problem and could not find it in herself to
let Maggie stay with them. Nevertheless, eventually Mrs. Thompson changed her mind because
of Maggie's kindness towards them. Two other conflicts that were external were between Mr. and
Mrs. Thompson and Maggie. Maggie was ill and bedridden and that caused nobody to want to
adopt her. Joe decided that he could not leave her there and took her to live with him and his
wife. Another conflict was that Mr. and Mrs. disagreed on the idea of adopting Maggie. This was
resolved when later in the story, Maggie has a positive impact on their lives and they finally
decided she would stay.
Maggie lived a happy life in the house of Mrs. and Mr. Thompson. Joe became much
happier and Mrs. Thompson had become a much more loving and caring person. Maggie
changed both of their lives for the better and truly appeared to be an angel in disguise. Joe
Thompson and his wife had adopted a sick and bedridden child, which changed them both for the
better. Joe Thompson was a static character because he was always a kind and generous man.
However, Mrs. Thompson was a dynamic character because she changed from a selfish illtempered person to a loving and caring person.
Theme:
Making decisions and selflessness are the subjects of this story. This story shows that if
you open yourself to your surroundings then you might find yourself with a change in heart that
selflessness can make you a better person.