Myla Roberts’s Reviews > The Hired Girl > Status Update

One connection I've made about this book is the girl Joan and me; she often acts on impulse and cares a lot about the way that she looks, described as her hair being wavy and thick. This is shown when she says "so I could look in the mirror and judge how pretty I am" and "my hair...neither curly nor straight...and thick" which shows how she views herself and her characteristics that make her similar to myself.

In the beginning, the antagonist in this book is Joan's father, he forces her to work for no pay and does things such as burning her books, taking her out of school, and criticizing her teacher. However, after Joan runs away the new antagonist is herself along with some setbacks she has with the new family she works for. Joan wants to be a school teacher, but she thinks very poorly of herself which causes conflict.

The main character Joan is a dynamic character, she undergoes a change in her personality and confidence. In the beggining, she does not have faith in herself to run away from home, however she changed when she realized her house is abusive. You can see the change in the text "I wish I could run away" and "I have escaped...from thence I will begin my new life". This shows that she had changed after an event occurred.

I think that this book has 2 types of conflict, character v. character with Joan and her father, and character v. self because she is very self conscious and has to make decisions based on what she thinks is best. It says "I glared at father... and he no longer seemed like my father" which shows she and him have conflicts, and "I have been through so many emotions today" that shows she has disputes with herself too.