Miss Minchin Character Analysis

Once Sara’s maturity is established, Burnett uses it to teach the adult reader that kindness is much more effective in a parental figure than cruelty, the other part of the implied lesson in this novel. Sara has established herself as a “leader…not because she could make herself disagreeable, but because she never did” (Burnett 28). This statement suggests that Sara’s capabilities in an authoritative role are attributed to her amiable persona, the exact opposite of the callousness of Miss Minchin. The situation that exemplifies the dichotomy between the strategies that Miss Minchin and Sara use as motherly figures is Lottie’s temper tantrum. Sara had heard Miss Minchin and Miss Amelia trying to suppress Lottie’s wails from the other room to
This is the cruel approach to get children to obey, in which the parental figure uses threats and punishment to instill
On the other hand, Sara’s approach is quite different in that she tries to identify with Lottie, who was crying about having no mother. Sara tells Lottie that she does not have her mother either. Then, by distracting Lottie with colorful and happy images of heaven, Sara employs a vastly different technique, one that identifies more with kindness and thoughtfulness without any sort of threat or fear. The book explains, “A new idea will stop a crying child like nothing else will” (Burnett 32). Burnett does not give this line to be spoken by Sara or any other character; it is just placed in the text. Here, the author seems to directly be speaking to the adult reader and offering advice on how to address these situations with their children in real life. Also, the statement endorses Sara’s method of not using fear or threats of punishment like Miss Minchin’s method. As a result, Sara has now advanced from being the mother of a doll to being an “adopted mother” of an actual child, which also implies that Sara has won the battle in parenting against Miss Minchin. The fact that Sara succeeded where Miss Minchin failed elevates her “adopted mother” status above that of Miss