What Katy Did

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**Title** **What Katy Did**

Author	Susan Coolidge
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Katy Books
Genre(s)	Children's fiction Coming of Age
Publisher	Roberts Brothers
Released	1872
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	277 (Little, Brown edition, 1925)
Followed by	What Katy Did at School

What Katy Did is a children's book written by Susan Coolidge, the pen name of Sarah Chauncey Woolsey. It follows the adventures of Katy Carr and her family, growing up in America in the 1860s. Katy is a tall untidy tomboy, forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be good and beautiful. However, a terrible accident changes Katy's life forever, and through her illness and recovery she grows up and learns to be as good and kind as she has always wanted.

Two sequels follow Katy as she grows up - What Katy Did at School and What Katy Did Next. Two further sequels relating the adventures of Katy's younger siblings were also published - Clover and In the High Valley - but these are largely out of print.

Coolidge modeled Katy on her own childhood self, and the other 'Little Carrs' on her brothers and sisters.^[1]

1 Characters
2 Plot
3 Discussion
4 Extract
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Characters

Katy Carr: the eldest of the Carr children and the protagonist of the novel. At the beginning of the book she is a twelve-year-old tomboy who much prefers running around outdoors to quiet 'ladylike' pursuits, and so tears her clothes and is always untidy; however, she longs to be good.

Clover Carr: the second eldest sister, Clover adores Katy and follows her in everything she does. Clover is pretty and clever, with a sunny disposition - she is described as loving everyone and loved by everyone in return.

Elsie Carr: the third sister, Elsie at the beginning of the book is the difficult child, too old to play with the 'babies' and too young to be included with Katy and her games. She tries her hardest to join in, but is usually ignored; so, instead, she whines.

Dorry Carr and Johnnie Carr: Dorry is a rather stolid boy, and a great eater. He is the fourth child and the eldest son. Johnnie (short for Joanna) is the fifth child and a tomboy. These two are great friends.

Phil Carr: the baby of the family, he is only four years old at the beginning of the book.

Cecy is the next door neighbour of the Carrs, and Katy and Clover's friend, included in all they do.

Papa is the children's father, a doctor. Their mother died when Katy was eight years old.

Aunt Izzie is Papa's sister, a cross woman who raises the children after their mother dies. She is very particular and scolds a lot, although she has a heart of gold underneath.

Cousin Helen is a relative who cannot walk after an accident years ago. She is kind and good and just what Katy wants to be. After Katy's accident, Cousin Helen helps her adjust to her illness.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Twelve-year-old Katy Carr lives with her widowed father and her five brothers and sisters in a small town called Burnet. Her father, a doctor, is very busy and works long hours. The children are therefore mostly cared for by their Aunt Izzie, who is very particular, and something of a scold. Under these circumstances, Katy, a bright, headstrong, hasty girl, can hardly avoid getting into mischief almost daily; however, she is unfailingly remorseful afterward. She dreams of someday doing something "grand" with her life - painting famous pictures, saving the lives of drowning people, or leading a crusade on a white horse. At the same time, she wants to be "beautiful, of course, and good if I can." When her mother died four years before, Katy promised to be a little mother to her siblings; however, although she leads them into all sorts of exciting adventures, she is sometimes impatient and cross with them.

When her Cousin Helen, an invalid, comes to visit, Katy is so enchanted by her beauty and kindness that on the day of her departure she resolves to model herself on Helen ever afterward. The very next day, however, Katy wakes in an ill humour, quarrels with her aunt, and pushes her little sister so hard that she falls down half a dozen steps. Afterwards, sulky and miserable, Katy decides to try out the new swing in the woodshed, even though Aunt Izzie has, for some reason, forbidden it. The swing is unsafe because one of the staples supporting it is cracked. Had Aunt Izzie explained this, the narrator tells us, "all would have been well". As it is, Katy swings as high as she can and, as she tries to graze the roof with her toes, the staple gives way. Katy falls hard, bruising her spine.

The lively Katy is now bedridden, suffering terrible pain and bitterness. Her room is dark, dreary, and cluttered with medicine bottles; when her brothers and sisters try to comfort her, she usually drives them away. However, a visit from Cousin Helen shows her that she must either learn to make the best of her situation or else lose the love of her family. Helen tells Katy that she is now a student in the "School of Pain" where she will learn lessons in patience, cheerfulness, hopefulness, neatness, and making the best of things.

With Cousin Helen's help she makes her room tidy and nice to visit, and gradually all the children gravitate round it, always coming in to see Katy whenever they can. She becomes the heart of the house, beloved by her family for her unfailing kindness and good cheer. After two years Aunt Izzie dies, and Katy takes over the running of the household herself. At the end of four years, in a chapter called "At Last", she learns to walk again.

[edit] Discussion

What Katy Did offers a glimpse into the treatment of paraplegics in the 19th century. After her accident, young Katy is given ample love and care; however, she is perpetually confined to an upstairs room and, although she has a wheelchair, she never goes further than her bedroom window. Her only option (aside from wallowing in misery) is to make herself so pleasant that everyone comes to her; the possibility that she leave her room is barely considered, and no-one thinks of moving her to the ground floor. Curiously, however, Katy's cousin Helen, who has no hope of ever walking again, manages to visit Katy three times in four years.

Katy's trials reflect a popular theme in the girls' fiction of the era: a headstrong girl suffers a debilitating accident or illness which proves to be a blessing in disguise, because it helps her learn to curb her selfish desires and become more "womanly"^[2]. In What Katy Did, however, Katy's misfortunes might also reflect the author's mixed feelings about the implications of puberty for a Victorian-era girl. Katy, a dynamic, adventurous girl with big dreams for the future, falls from a swing at the age of twelve and loses all freedom of movement; instead of becoming a famous sculptor or a crusader, she must spend the next four years confined to her bedroom. For months she surrenders to "selfish misery" - she behaves crossly, keeps her blinds drawn, and does little but think about the wretched future that awaits her. When Cousin Helen comes to counsel her, Katy asks her despairingly how she can be "sweet and beautiful and patient, when you're feeling badly all the time, and can't do anything, or walk, or stand?" Helen explains that she learned these virtues in the 'School of Pain', where Katy is now a pupil.

These abrupt, painful changes, and Katy's adjustment to them, may unconsciously symbolise the debilitating transition from wild girlhood to ladylike womanhood (with the accompanying loss of freedom) in Coolidge's time. Eventually, Katy becomes the "angel in the house", assuming what was then perceived as a woman's proper place. However, the undisciplined Katy of the novel's first half is delightful, while the chastened graduate of the "School of Pain" is far less interesting. In the first sequel, What Katy Did at School, while Katy remains the nominal heroine, Coolidge spends considerable time describing the adventures of Katy's neighbour, the mischievous Rose Red.

Despite a certain datedness, however, Katy is a memorable character, and the book remains a lively, readable account of childhood and family life in 19th century America.

[edit] Extract

“

Katy's hair was forever in a snarl; her gowns were always catching on nails and 'tearing themselves'; and, in spite of her age and size, she was as heedless and innocent as a child of six. Katy was the longest girl that was ever seen. What she did to make herself grow so, nobody could tell; but there she was - up above Papa's ear, and a half a head taller than poor Aunt Izzie. Whenever she stopped to think about her height she became very awkward, and felt as if she were all legs and elbows, and angles and joints. Happily, her head was so full of other things, of plans and schemes and fancies of all sorts, that she didn't often take time to remember how tall she was. She was a dear, loving child, for all her careless habits, and made bushels of good resolutions every week of her life, only unluckily she never kept any of them. She had fits of responsibility about the other children, and longed to set them a good example, but when the chance came, she generally forgot to do so. Katy's days flew like the wind; for when she wasn't studying lessons, or sewing and darning with Aunt Izzie, which she hated extremely, there were always so many delightful schemes rioting in her brains, that all she wished for was ten pairs of hands to carry them out.

-What Katy Did, Chapter 1.

”

[edit] Notes

1. "Susan Coolidge: Introduction". Bibliomania (Full Text). Accessed 2/7/07.
2. Keith, Lois. Take Up Thy Bed and Walk: Death, Disability and Cure in Classic Fiction for Girls. Routledge: 2001, pp. 69-94.
(Interestingly, Keith claims that while the code of womanhood has changed dramatically since Coolidge's time, the rules for invalids that Cousin Helen describes - cheerfulness, patience etc. - have not altered much).