newspaper from 1793 philadelphia fever 1793 lucille cook

Ill and overwhelmed, Captain Cook leaves it up to his granddaughter to decide on the best course of action. Mattie experiences this frightening realization when she and her grandfather are stranded in the countryside. He was waiting for me to decide what to do.

Leaving the city would actually make someone less likely to get ill, and Mattie's family will later regret that they did not take action sooner. Captain Cook's perspective shows how there will be a wide range of opinions as to what is happening and what actions should be taken during an outbreak. Because of his experiences during wartime, he thinks the newer generations are just soft and spoiled. Captain Cook is insistent that the disease is nothing serious and thinks that people are just overreacting. Mattie's grandfather delivers this speech in frustration as the number of fever cases increases and more and more people flee from the city. They didn't squall like children and hide in the woods. What is wrong with people, Andrew? We suffered all kinds of disease in our youths, but folks were sensible. I didn't run from the redcoats, and I won't run from a dockside miasma. She contrasts her own upbringing with the upbringing of her mother and reflects that she will never be comfortable as a fashionable lady of leisure. She is proud to be from the middle-class, and her dreams involve building her own business ventures. Cook is ambitious that her daughter could advance her social position through marriage, Mattie wants to make her own way in the world. Mattie is proud, and it hurts her pride to know that others are quietly laughing at her. She knows that the wealthier women are judging her and her mother due to their lack of money and glamor. Over the course of having tea with the Ogilvie ladies, Mattie becomes increasingly agitated. Mother may have grown up with carriages and gowns, but I had not. Mattie's ability to dream big dreams and stubbornly pursue them will benefit her later in the novel when she has to take on challenges beyond what she ever could have imagined at this point, though, Mattie focuses all of her energy on her own desires. When she thinks about her future, she only imagines the greatness she will be able to achieve and how she can get what she wants. Mattie is intelligent and ambitious, but she is also somewhat spoiled. Mattie reflects on these ideas early in the novel, as she feels frustrated and defiant about being told what to do.

They would call me 'Ma'am.' Mattie, pg.12

Grandfather said I was a Daughter of Liberty, a real American Girl.

Newspaper from 1793 philadelphia fever 1793 lucille cook