Birdyline Book Blog

Sara Crewe is an adorable and good-natured character written by Francis Hodgson Burnett. As a kid, I loved the Shirley Temple movie version as well as the “og” book. Sara really does reflect a princess out of a Disney movie with her hope and positivity transcending her circumstances even to the point of horrific abuse and servitude. Reading the book again as an adult (as well as a person who lost their father,) I have some thoughts on how her optimism is not surface level. Rather, she has a method of coping that reads as selfless acceptance but is actually a survival technique (beyond what she is aware of.)

The primary conflict that Sara goes through during the book is the loss of her father. Her father is very important to her, but its important to recognize that her trauma begins before- first when her mother dies at her birth. While she never knew her mother, her absence in her life would absolutely have an effect. Similarly, Sara’s entire world- her precious father- has to leave her behind at a school while he goes to war.

Sara exhibits a desire for companionship from the beginning of the novel to the end. We see this first in Emily, her doll, as she speaks to her often as her closest confidant. Emily connects her to her father and provides a space for her thoughts in an unfamiliar environment.

Emily also serves as an outlet for Sara’s inner desires. Sara desperately misses her father, as established in the first chapter. “‘Couldn’t you go to that place with me, papa?’ she had asked when she was five years old. ‘Couldn’t you go to school too? I would help you with your lessons.” (Burnett 4) It is the offer of helping her father that captures one aspect of Sara’s personality. In many ways as will become evident throughout the text, Sara feels that she is responsible for caring for others. This could be because her mother’s absence as well as how she’s been prepared nearly since birth to be left behind at school. Her selfless nature is a bargaining tool. She mirrors her inner desires onto the doll. “‘I have called her Emily. She is going to be my friend while Papa is gone.” (Burnett 10) Sara also says later on, “‘I’m her mother, though I am going to make a companion of her.’” (Burnett 14)

Early on Sara admits that she daydreams to avoid or embellish reality. When questioned on whether her doll Emily can move when there aren’t any humans around, at first she agrees, but then adjusts her answer slightly twice. “‘Yes,’ answered Sara. ‘At least I believe she can. At least I pretend I believe she can. And that makes it seem as if it were true.’” (Burnett 34)

As things get worse for Sara, her daydreaming becomes more and more maladaptive. She tells her friend Ermengarde while sitting in a rat-infested attic that “‘I- I can’t help making up things. If I didn’t, I don’t think I could live.’” (Burnett 147) After taking a moment to acknowledge the setting, she adds that she’s “‘sure [she] couldn’t live here.’” (Burnett 147)

Similarly to Emily, she continues to project her feelings onto the things around her. She sees herself in a certain rat who lives in her attic which she names Melchisedec. It is possible she doesn’t have the emotional regulation tools to process her own mental state, and so as is typical of her she begins to feel sorry for the rat and ponder over its treatment. “‘People jump and run away and scream out, ‘Oh, a horrid rat!’ I shouldn’t like people to scream and jump and say, ‘Oh, a horrid Sara!” the moment they saw me… It’s so different to be a sparrow. But nobody asked this rat if he wanted to be a sparrow when he was made.’” (Burnett 141)

Sara projects this facade onto the things around her, onto the people around her, and onto herself. Her motivations are often one of two things. First, she uses her imagination to comfort the people who express concern for her by reassuring them in fanciful ways. “Ermengarde looked around the attic with a rather fearsome curiosity. ‘Sara,’ she said, ‘do you think you can bear living here?’…’If I pretend it’s quite different, I can…’” (Burnett 102) She goes on to say “‘Other people have lived in worse places. Think of the Count of Monte Cristo in the dungeons…’” (Burnett 103) On another occasion after convincing another young girl that her situation is better than it looks Sara herself admits that she does not feel the things that she says. “When Sara had persuaded her to go down-stairs again… the enchantment of her imaginings for Lottie had died away.” (Burnett 111)

The second reason Sara uses her imagination is to regulate her own emotions. She imagines herself as a princess, reminding herself that “‘A princess must be polite…’” (Burnett 139) and relying on this method to be able to take whatever verbal abuse she may receive from other servants or students. When being scolded by Miss Minchin she allows herself to disassociate into a dream world, which gets her in trouble, but also protects her from feeling scared or sad.

These two uses tie back into Sara’s need for companionship. Not only do they remove the burden of worry from her friends who are reassured by Sara’s elaborate fantasies that she is OK, but they also make her more palatable to the cook or Miss Minchin herself who are frequently rude to Sara. Not only does Sara keep herself from escalating the situation by bottling up any reaction she may want to have, she convinces herself she is not having the reaction at all.

Additionally, both uses support how she uses her selflessness as a bargaining tool. She is loving and caring for the younger students even before she has the responsibility of caring for them. (We also observe this in her treatment of her doll as noted earlier) She is also polite to the people who are cruel to her in hopes they will stop. (and if they don’t, her detachment from reality cushions the consequences.)

Sara never really works through these issues by the end of the book. Her commitment to staying optimistic certainly helps her in getting a happy ending, though. Not to mention, the book is meant to mirror that of a princess story. Many classic folk and fairytale protagonists have a similar attitude to Sara’s as they go from prosperity to ruin and then to happily ever after.

Do you think the messaging in this story are harmful as it encourages a person to deal with wrongs done against them by living a lie and lying to the people around you? Or do you think it is a beautiful story about a young girl who hopes and dreams her way through hardships the best way she knows how. Please let me know in the comments.