Diana Goss Analysis

Focus Question:

Should Lyddie sign or not sign the petition Diana Goss is circulating?

In Katherine Paterson’s novel, her main character, Lyddie, is a factory girl in Lowell, Massachusetts. Lyddie is working to pay off the debts on her family cabin and be able to go home to her family. While working at the corporation, Lyddie made friends: Prudence, Amelia, and Betsy, who all later on leave the corporation. Only with one friend left, Diana-a known radical for the working condition petition-Lyddie debates whether she will sign or not. Although some may say she should not sign the petition because she could get blacklisted and can’t pay off the debts. Lyddie should sign the petition so the girls do not have to work long hours and getting injured
The girls work extra hard to keep up with the speeded machines. Betsy protests for shorter hours because they are exhausted. “Now I’ve twice that many at a speed that would make the devil curse. I’m worn out, Amelia. We’re all worn out.” (91) This shows that the girls can’t manage working at this fast speed anymore and getting all tired. By signing the petition, they can manage the hours better and not get worn out as much. ^With the machines speeded, the workers are more tired than usual. When Lyddie gets back from work, she seems to be so worn out, she barely does anything. “She was too tired now at night to copy out a page of Oliver to paste to her loom. It hardly mattered. When would she have time to study it?” (98) This shows that working so many looms at a time, she never has time to focus on the things around her. The looms can be very dangerous if you mess something up, so you have to be extra careful and focused so anything doesn’t happen. ^The girls should always be at work, and if they weren’t, it would not be good to their overseers. A lot goes on in the factory, and if you miss work, lots of cloth is not being produced. “The overseers were offered premiums-prizes to the men whose girls produced the most goods in a pay period-which was why the machines were speeded and why the girls hardly dared to take time off even when they were
The working conditions at the factory are very dangerous and could cause serious injuries. One mistake in the factory, and you could get badly hurt. “There were no deaths at the Concord Corporation, but one of the little Irish girls in the spinning room had caught her hair in the machinery and was badly hurt.” (101) This shows that when working, you have to be extremely careful around the machinery. The girl had made a simple mistake by not thinking how close her hair was to the machine. Mistakes get you injured in the factory. ^The machines at the corporation are very complicated and have a technique that you have to master. Even the best girls at the factory get hurt, also, by simple mistakes. Working conditions are terrible at the factory. Lyddie and the other workers are put at risk, they could get hurt at any time. They could easily misplace something in the machine and get blasted. “Before she could think she was on the floor, blood pouring through the hair near her right temple...the shuttle, the blasted shuttle.” (102) This means that Lyddie has gotten terribly hurt and has to take time off work until she is better. Because of the bad working conditions, this has caused Lyddie to get injured. ^When girls first start off working with the machines, they are supervised because they could mess up easily. New girls don’t exactly know