Book Analysis Essay on Harriet the Spy

Introduction

The book Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh is like an arcade for children's literature because it tells a modern juvenile fiction story. The book can, however, be read by adults. Its sophistication is funny and penetrating. It was published in 1964 (Fitzhugh, 2014). Like other novels, Harriet the Spy helps children to develop their literacy skills. At the same time, young readers can spark their imaginations, and stimulate their curiosity. The author, Louise Fitzhugh, is talking about balance of life seen through Harriet Welsch, who takes the role of a spy.

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Harriet Welsch is an unpretentious child, living in the real world. This is not easy for many children, particularly when looking at Harriet's life. The honesty, feistiness, softness, loneliness, loudness, quick to judge, to mention but a few are Harriet's personalities. She lives in New York, a city of diminutive order (Fitzhugh, 2014). She is the only child in her family. Her parents have little time for her. In a similar approach, they faintly understand her. In contrast to her clumsy parents, there is a wonderful and nice nurse, Ole Golly. It is the nurse who loves her with what she does, and at the same time, it is only the Ole Golly who understands her wholly. Harriet Welsch writes everything she sees in her private notebook (Abate & Kidd, 2011). She has been writing since she was eight years. Now at eleven, she believes that she is going to be a famous writer. She spies and writes all observations in a private notebook. The spy rehearsal helps her find a rhythm in life, which she practices regularly.

Fitzhugh (2014), highlight that what Harriet does is abnormal. However, although it seems like the unconscious rhythm for a child, it is a basic fundamental for entirely all human beings. For years now, Harriet's routine has been consistent, her spying role, reading in bed with a flashlight, her everyday sandwiches, and her writing. She reads in bed with a flashlight until nurse Ole Golly takes it away. In the first half of the novel, these activities are like her breath of life. Every time she goes out, she dresses in her official spy uniform. As if she rides with the tide, she spies, records in her notebook, and eats her tomato sandwiches. In fact, there are no conflicts as she spies and writes exactly what she sees.

Harriet is a brilliant child who needs support as long as she lives. Ole Golly, her nurse keeps advising her about her passion for writing. However, there is a first major shift seen when Ole Golly leaves (Fitzhugh, 2014). The impact is unbearable for Harriet but as time traverses, she compensates the difficult break with her writing. Since Ole Golly is gone, Harriet accepts and is able to maintain some kind of balance and order. Later, she loses balance completely when her friends steal her notebook. They invade it and turns against her. Now she has been caught in the current due to changes in the tide. Moreover, the obsession for writing augments, and to her, she thinks that it is important to write every single thing that happens to her. She loses her focus since the world has turned upside down. This rests her in a state of panic and it becomes hard for her to think. She is in a condition of struggle where she does not know what to do. Fortunately, Ole Golly comes. Through a letter she tells Harriet that there are two things she needs to do: Apologize and lie. Ole Golly explains to her that little lies that can make people feel better are not bad.

Harriet figures her situation and ultimately listens to Ole Golly, something that moves her from a state innocence to give her experience. She accepts her nurse's adult logic, and as she becomes more adult, there is a new balance and order in her life. Harriet sees the process of life, as she walks through difficult times like when her friends bully her. For instance, there is a time when her peers verbally taunt her. In school, the whole class smears paint all over her clothes and face (Abate & Kidd, 2011). Among other bullying and silent-treatments that shuns her personality prepare her to a state of a new order and balance in her life. This is like a major step into becoming an adult. Harriet is rebellious but it is easy to believe in what she does since she always stays true to herself.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Harriet the Spy is a great book, which reflects the current state of affairs in the contemporary world. Harriet Welsch spies on her neighbors, friends, and classmates, and learns a tough lesson, which hurts her when her notebook is stolen. Although she is innocent, she gets an experience, which to readers vividly shows Harriet's balance of life. The bullying by her friends makes her lose focus, becomes disturbed, and could not concentrate on her routine activities. In the end, she gains balance and a new order in life, hence becoming a better person, and an adult.

References

Abate, M. A., & Kidd, K. B. (Eds.). (2011). Over the rainbow: Queer children's and young adult literature. University of Michigan Press, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fsWV-TAoJXEC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=+Harriet+the+Spy%22.+In+Abate,+Michelle+Ann%3B+Kidd,+Kenneth+B.+(eds.).+Over+the+Rainbow:+Queer+Children%27s+and+Young+Adult+Literature.+Ann+Arbor:+University+of+Michigan.+pp.+111%E2%80%93120.&ots=Kyabua9JDy&sig=M38o_Lj4cotyMQG6H4jl-NBu6ng

Fitzhugh, L. (2014). Harriet the spy. Delacorte Books for Young Readers, https://novelstudies.org/downloads/Harriet_The_Spy_Novel_Study_Preview.pdf