The word “mission” recurs just twice more in the narrative. "Take a husband like my Darby, and fulfill your mission.” Notably, it is the suggestion of her sister Joan which seems the unlikeliest of all: It is her brother Tom’s suggestion to become a nurse that grabs her by the fancy. Naturally, the rest of the Periwinkle clan are quick to offer advice and guidance which includes suggestions that Tribulation write a book, go back to teaching and become an actress. The collection of sketches starts off with an assertion which was not exactly common among young unmarried women in the middle of the 19th century: This racial division is keenly felt in the sketches in order to convey a truthful image of the circumstances back then. And yet, this quote is one more indication of the stressful atmosphere caused by the question of slavery back then, for even if slavery was all but declared abolished, black soldiers were still tended to in different hospitals, which housed none but black people while the white soldiers were taken to similar white hospitals. Alcott was not exactly renowned for her discretion on the subject of her political beliefs. This is the point at which real life creator and semi-fictional creation part ways.
“Having been warned not to be too rampant on the subject of slavery, as secesh principles flourished even under the respectable nose of Father Abraham, I had endeavored to walk discreetly.” Well, perhaps not quite as forthright the proximity of Washington D.C.-where the hospital was located-to the borderline of Confederacy was not exactly Alcott’s Massachusetts and so Miss Periwinkle admits: Like her creator (and real-life doppelganger) Louisa May Alcott, Tribulation Periwinkle is forthright and uncompromising in her attitude not only towards slavery, but also against racial prejudice in general. Not just any point during the Civil War, but a quite specific and quite specifically significant period: just a few short months after the arrival of Pres. The narrative recounts Tribulation Periwinkle’s experiences as a nurse in a Union hospital during the Civil War. They were originally published in a pro-abolitionist Boston newspaper called The Commonwealth. Written by Timothy Sexton, Sid Ali KercennaĪlcott’s sketches were written during the Civil War in other words, when slavery was still a matter of conflict between the northern and southern states. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.
These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.
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