Mary Mapes Dodge, the novel "Silver Skates": a brief summary, the main characters

The novel by the American writer M. M. Dodge "Silver Skates", the summary of which is the subject of this review, became a real bestseller immediately after its publication. The work takes place in the Netherlands early XIX century. The author in her book conveyed the amazing color of this country of the beginning of the century, as well as romantic concepts of youthful honor, which, of course, will interest all readers, first of all, adolescents and adolescents.

Introduction

The book "Silver Skates", the brief content of which must necessarily include a small characteristic of the environment and the environment in which the main characters were brought up and grew, is one of the best examples of children's prose.

The work begins with a description of the place where the poor Brook family lives. Father ten years ago fell into a catastrophe and became a cripple, so all family members are constantly in need. This affected, first of all, the situation of young children. Gretel and Hans Brinker are very fond of skating, but because of poverty they can not buy real skates, and they are forced to use wooden appliances on the strings, which only remotely resemble sports shoes.

Once the children rescued a dog of one rich lady. The woman rewarded them with money, for which they bought real skates for themselves. After a while, the children found the money hidden by their father, who went to the treatment of their sick parent, which, fortunately, ended successfully.

Features of the country in the work

The work "Silver Skates", whose brief content should include a small reference about those historical and cultural features of the country that are reflected in the narrative, is interesting from the cultural point of view: after all, this is, in fact, the view of the American writer on the life and life of Holland.

As is known, channels play an important role in the development of this state. Therefore, the author included in his work a beautiful story about how Hans alone shut the dam and thereby saved the city from a spill of water. This episode has gained worldwide fame, so many tourists still come to this country to look at the place of the "incident." The authorities even set up a monument to a fictional boy, since the interest of travelers to his deed is very great.

Sporting traditions in the novel

The history of the "Silver Skates", which should be briefly continued with the description of the author's idea, which is to reproduce as much as possible the life of the people, reflects many of the ancient traditions of the Dutch.

So, skating has become a popular sport since the XIII century. It was this country that first started building artificial paths for speed skating. Therefore, the description of the competition, in which Gretel took part, occupies a prominent place in the work. The author writes that the crowd was really delighted at the sight of this amazing enchanting spectacle. Mary Mapes Dodge reproduces the intensity of the passions in the arena, the audience of which actively and very vigorously reacted to what is happening on the tracks.

Main character

The main character of the work is the eldest son of the Brinker family. The boy is only fifteen years old, but he is brave, selfless, proud and obstinate. The author emphasizes that, despite poverty, he behaves with dignity and is not humiliating to anyone. He feels his responsibility for the family and is trying to somehow help his relatives.

Hans Brinker - the character in all respects is perfect, he has almost no flaws, and, nevertheless, readers note that this image turned out to be very expressive and truthful.

Negative and secondary characters

In contrast, the writer put forward Karl Schummel. This arrogant, greedy and self-righteous person, who is very contemptuous of the Brunker family. However, his own destiny is not the best way: he becomes an accountant in the office, which is led by Voest, a man whom he had severely offended in his childhood. However, the latter, apparently, forgot about all the insults, and this even more affects Carl.

The book "Silver Skates" is interesting because in it the author presented a gallery of different characters. The second not very pleasant character is Rikhi Korbes. She is also proud and arrogant, but her fate was somewhat better than that of Karl: she became a writer.

Another heroine of the work is Katrinka. This is a very frivolous person who never managed to get married. Another memorable hero is the good-natured fat man Jacob Poot, who was distinguished by an easy and cheerful temper, for which everyone loved him. However, this person died early, and thus the reader will receive an incomplete presentation of it.

Rich people

One of the most famous works of children's prose is the novel "Silver Skates". Reviews about the book are usually very positive, and in large part due to colorful characters.

Peter and Hilda come from a wealthy family and are in every way trying to help the Brunker family. The author described this concern in a very touching and vivid colors, which should evoke a feeling of sympathy for these people. However, some readers noted that this story line looks too idealistic and does not produce an impression of vitality. However, Peter has a brother Ludwig, who is as if opposed to the first: he is lazy and not active and therefore does not achieve anything in life, while his friend Lambert, who has a more enterprising and active character, leaves for America.

Culmination

Translation from English into Russian of this work was carried out by Melitina Ivanovna Klyagina-Kondratieva. She managed to convey the living language of the narrative, thanks to which readers have the opportunity to get a vivid idea of the culture and traditions of Holland. But the main episode in the narrative is, of course, the description of the ice-skating competitions in which Gretel participated. To everyone's surprise, she won the race, and she won the main prize - amazing silver skates.

It is necessary to draw the attention of the schoolchildren to the description of the authors of the emotional heat of this scene, when the rosters rejoiced over the victory of this little fragile girl on the ice. This moment is perhaps the strongest in the whole work, not only from the semantic, but also from the aesthetic point of view. Gretel's description deserves special attention in this scene. The author touches it touchingly with a little fairy and a bird that fled, as it seemed, without any effort. At this very moment she became a real queen of ice. Her heroine devoted her victory to her parents and brother Hans. The second prize was won by Peter - a universal favorite. Then the writer described a solemn holiday, which was organized in honor of sports.

Opinions

Readers' comments about the work as a whole are very positive. Weight notes the undoubted skill of the writer in the reproduction of the colorful spirit of Holland at the beginning of the XIX century. Others put her credit for the fact that she told her amazing story in a fairy-tale spirit. However, some believe that this book is too correct and that the characters are spelled out not sufficiently vividly and convincingly. Whatever it was, but the named story became a real classic of children's prose.

Indicative is the fact that in the Netherlands itself this book is not very popular, while in America, Europe and in our country, it is rightly considered to be the real standard of literature for adolescents. Well, a successfully performed translation from English into Russian of this work only contributed to its popularization among the domestic audience.

This interest is largely due not only to the touching story, but also to the interesting reproduction of the culture and life of Holland. The reader sees the eyes of children and teenagers immersed in this amazing atmosphere of the beginning of the century, which undoubtedly enhances the attractiveness of the work.