Love Equals Obedience

Throughout The Wide, Wide World the role of parents is almost as an instructional guidebook for the children. In the case of Ellen Montgomery the role of the mother versus the role of the father differed greatly.

Mrs. Montgomery serves as a moral compass for Ellen, teaching her lessons in faith, obedience and education. When Ellen is unsure of her faith her mother always reminds her that, “God sends no trouble upon his children but in love” (24). The trust in God that Mrs. Montgomery displays sets an example for Ellen to not live for worldly pleasures, but rather for faith in a higher power. When Mrs. Montgomery teaches Ellen about obedience she relates it back to how she should treat her aunt and do her work. Ellen learns through her mother that her aunt, “loving or not loving [her] depends solely and entirely upon herself” and the work that she does (33). Mrs. Montgomery instills in Ellen a strong work ethic as well as proper manners for when she goes and lives away from her. The role of domestic education is also of utmost concern to Mrs. Montgomery. She buys her a desk with supplies, a Bible and a workbox in order to be able to do all the necessary things if something happens to an item of clothing. At the emotional moment when Mrs. Montgomery is about to give the workbox to Ellen as a surprise she tells her that the gifts, “serve as reminders for you if you are ever tempted to forgot my lessons” (50). The mother role that Mrs. Montgomery plays is that of a teacher or instructor of the proper ways of womanhood.

Mr. Montgomery differs greatly from this, which is seen in his title of Captain. Distant from most of Ellen’s life the greatest thing they have in common is bloodline. Throughout the story language like command and obedience appear they draw back to the role of those under the captain, which in this story are Mrs. Montgomery and Ellen. Ellen does not talk about her father often and one of the few time she mentions him her “heart secretly questioned the truth of” what he said about her aunt (34). With little interaction between Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery seen until the end of the story it seems as if the Captain could have another family and life somewhere else. He does not seem to be truthful in what he says because he lies to Ellen when he tells her that he “meant to have called [her] before, but [he] overslept [himself]” (75). The reader understands this blatant lie because in the previous pages Mrs. Montgomery was the one that wanted to tell Ellen that she was going to leave that morning, but the Captain would not allow it.

Mrs. Montgomery is Ellen’s best and really only friend in this story. Ellen receives love only from her mother because her father is either away or extremely distant from her. Ellen loves her mother so much that she wants to serve her and make her happy, which even means suppressing her own feelings of sadness in order to appease her mom. When her Mrs. Montgomery talks about her love for God and how it is greater than her love for Ellen, she stands perplexed saying, “I do love you a great deal better” (51). The love that they share for each other at times makes them seem more as friends, but then reverts back to the formal mother daughter relationship of the time.

Captain Montgomery is more of a fixture in Ellen’s life. She is able to say she has a mother and a father, but she never talks about her feelings of him leaving her or being upset that he is gone. Ellen’s father is summed up well in the end when she does not even remember him taking her to the carriage and saying goodbye or setting the candy on her lap. I feel this image represents the majority of their relationship because throughout her life she has only caught fast glimpses of him. The only thing she remembers from that morning is the fact “that she lost her mother” (77).