As I finished up the book, I couldn't help but think about our discussion on who should be to blame throughout the book. Though I do not wish to put blame on any of the characters in this post, I still feel that it is interesting to see how much blame is put on Charlotte. While reading, Charlotte kept reminding me of the horses from "All Quiet on the Western Front." When we read this book in high school, we had a discussion on how we didn't necessarily feel as bad for the soldiers as we did for the horses. The horses in the book were naive, innocent, and had no consent as to being in the war. In terms of Charlotte, though she did want to run off with Montraville, I feel bad for her. She was so innocent and had no idea what she was getting herself into. She had no idea of any of the evils of the world because she had been sheltered for too long. I'm not saying that Charlotte should not receive any blame, because she most definitely does. All that I'm saying is that I just feel so bad for her; like I felt bad for the horses. Charlotte's life just keeps spiraling downwards and there is no one there to help her, only people who want to bring her down. Even when she did have one friend, she was abandoned by her. Also, with the time period that this was set in, being a female wasn't exactly in her favor. I definitely thought that the most interesting idea in the book was how Rowson made everyone sympathise with Charlotte.
I think your right in the fact that most people feel bad for charlotte. I also agree with you that charlotte is blame. I want to know why no one ever blames the parents. They left her alone at the boarding school. Even there was a governess there are too many women for the governess to keep constant watch on. Not only that but they did not check on who her friends were. If they were going to shelter her so much they should have continued by checking on her friends and everything else. SO I believe that her parents are to blame as well however, I feel that they rarely get the blame.
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