Tom And Maggie - Two Very Different Peas In One Victorian Pod

Tom and Maggie on their most basic levels are completely different, their personalities being defined by their types of intelligence. Tom possesses a practical, natural sense of the world. He enjoys being outdoors and understanding the world in a physical way. Maggie, on the other hand, is a creative, passionate individual who (as far as I can infer) easily gets carried away in her emotions and imaginings. A person like Tom, one can reason, learns by doing and experiencing. A person like Maggie learns through scholarly work. The attitude toward the siblings (pertaining to education) results in a certain level of irony; Maggie is denied the education that fits her mind, while Tom is a square peg forced into a round hole. The result is bound to be failure for each, but I shall keep an open mind and see how the story unfolds.

I’ve gotta say, though – so far I’m not too keen on this book. It’s a little bit densely worded and the organization is unique. I’ll probably get more “into” it as the story progresses. I mean, reading this vs. Wuthering Heights is like taking a big bite out of dark double chocolate cake vs. licking a chocolate chip cookie. Well, that’s a bit exaggerated, but you get my drift. I look forward to the rest of the book!

-- Gina Sposto


Early on in the book, one has quite different feelings concerning both Maggie and Tom’s ancestry. Though they grow up very close to one another, their outlooks on life remain quite different. Maggie, though growing up in a highly patriarchal society, always seems to keep an open mind about her role in the world. Maggie, showing more of a likeness to the Tulliver family, is messy, wild, and very spirited. Tom, however, has a great sense of right and wrong, and is very aimed towards justice. His education means very much to the family, as he is a boy, and will be expected to get a job in business. Maggie’s pursuit of knowledge is seen as embarrassing by her father, and she is discouraged from reading. Even her good friend, Luke the miller, sees education as dangerous, saying, "That's what brings folks to the gallows—knowin' everything but what they'n got to get their bread by."

As Maggie and Tom seem to begin their childhood on a similar level, they are torn apart by Tom’s obligation to be sent away to school, and Maggie’s obligation to stay home and cross-stitch, which she rejects. I will be interested to observe the interaction between the two children as Tom is pushed higher and higher into society, while Maggie is left to pine for a life in which she can be able to be treated as an equal. Will their good friendship falter? Will Tom begin to treat Maggie with the same prejudices common to the times?

-- Allie Watkins