BOOK REVIEW: THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cushman, Karen THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE. Houghton Mifflin, ISBN10: 0395692296
2. . PLOT SUMMARY
Karen Cushman’s historical fiction book, THE MIDWIFES’S APPRENTICE is the 1996 Newbery, Winner. In the beginning, a thirteen year old orphan girl without a named is called “Brat or Beetle”. The girl rests in a dung heap on a cold winter’s night. Jane the only midwife in the village discovers Beetle in the dung and the midwife makes Beetle work for bread. Beetle takes lots of verbal abuse from Jane and the boys in the poor village in the medieval period in England.
Beetle’s only companion is a cat who she tries to keep safe from the boys who terrorize her. Beetle begins to feel better about herself when she gives herself a name “Alyce”. She learns how to be a midwife by watching Jane the village’s midwife prepare herbs as medicine and delivering babies. Beetle manages to overcome insecurity in her skills until she manages to deliver a baby.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Cushman’s Newbery Winner novel, the MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE, takes place in the medieval time period. Cushman’s character is nameless orphan young woman about “twelve or thirteen years-old” (2). Cushman develops the protagonist by simply having a name of her own instead of her name being “Brat or Beetle.” She gives herself permission to adopt the name “Alyce” after someone confuses her with someone else. She struggles at first but she decides to take that name because it gave her self-worth. This is the turning point in the character’s self discovery because it leads her to develop a sense of identity and self esteem.
Alyce feels positive about her and watches Jane the midwife preparing herbs that served as medicine. This is how she becomes the midwife’s apprentice because she made up her mind to learn. “twelve or thirteen years of age” (2). Cushman takes this homeless, nameless, and hungry orphan whose only company is a cat. Cushman makes the reader feel that the protagonist was dropped in the story without any background at the beginning or end of where she had being prior to the protagonist’s appearance.
Alyce is called to deliver a baby when Jane the midwife is not found but she does not have the courage to deliver the baby. After all night of Emma enduring contractions the midwife arrives and delivers the baby. Alyce realizes that the midwife did not use any magic to deliver the baby. However, Jane the antagonist, ridicules Alyce; this results in Alyce running away from the midwife. Alyce finds a job but is discontent because she likes being a midwife’s apprentice. She goes back to ask the midwife to take her back but the midwife refuses at first. This did not stop Alyce, she persisted and convince the midwife to let her come back. At this point Alyce is sure about what she wants in life and she sets out to learn as much as possible from the midwife and for her dreams to come true when she delivers a baby from a woman who was to have a worm in her stomach that kept her from having a baby. Alyce is now certain that delivering babies does not involve superstition. She feels good about herself because she knows that delivering a baby is all about a skill.
It is amazing how Cushman manages to show so much without writing a lot. She is able to create pictures in the reader’s mind about a foreign time period without telling a lot in this short story that is so realistic about overcoming obstacles through determination and perseverance to achieve one’s dreams.
4. EXCERPTS
The girl known only as Brat has no family, no home and no future until she meets Jane the Midwife and becomes her apprentice. As she helps the sharp-tempered Jane deliver babies, Brat--who renames herself Alyce--gains knowledge, confidence, and the courage to want something from life.
http://www.ecampus.com/bk_detail.asp?isbn=0395692296
5. CONNECTIONS
Matilda Bone, by Karen Cushman
