Little Women, By Louisa May Alcott

According to the excerpt from the book Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, the March girls’ decision to help the poverty-stricken family was based on the effect it would have on them. There was a family living by them that were freezing, starving, and without much money that were in need of assistance. The girls’ mother, ‘Marmee,’ asked her children, “My girls, will you give them your breakfast as a Christmas present?" (Alcott para 32). Since the girls’ mother asked them instead of telling them to help, the girls would get more praise and feel better about themselves for doing the act of kindness. At first, the March sisters showed small signs of disinclination, but eventually they decided to aid the deprived family. Selflessly aiding the family
In that moment, the girls decided that it would be better for them to help the family than to keep their breakfast. After the girls agreed to give the family their breakfast, the text declares, "‘I thought you'd do it,’ said Mrs. March, smiling as if satisfied” (Alcott para 37). When the text explains that Mrs. March was satisfied, it shows that she was proud of the girls for giving up their breakfast without her making them do so. This is another benefit the March children got out of helping the family: their mother’s satisfaction. After the girls gave the family their breakfast, the narrator reveals, “I think there were not in all the city four merrier people than the hungry little girls who gave away their breakfasts and contented themselves with bread and milk on Christmas morning” (Alcott para 44). The children were proud of themselves that they chose to do something for someone else, instead of being selfish and keeping their breakfast, without being told that they had to. At the end of the excerpt, Meg expresses, “That's loving our neighbor better than ourselves, and I like it” (Alcott para