A Clergyman’s Daughter Essay, Research Paper
Author: George Orwell
Title: A Clergyman’s Daughter
Title explanation:
The title is called A Clergyman’s Daughter, because the book gives a description of Dorothy’s life as a clergyman’s daughter.
Cast of characters
The main character is Dorothy Hare, the only child of a reverend.
Further more, the reverend Charles Hare, Dorothy’s father.
Mr. Warburton, Dorothy’s friend.
Nobby, an other friend of Dorothy’s.
Mrs. Creevy, Dorothy’s schoolmistress and
Plot
The story takes place in the 1930s. The first part takes place in Knype Hill, a village in rural England. Dorothy’s is the daughter of a reverend. Her day is filled with church work. She has a round of visits to be made every day except on Sundays. Dorothy is an active member and leader of the Sunday School and the Girl Guides. The only member of Knype Hill whom Dorothy likes is Mr. Warburton. She has a special relationship with him, although he is neither a church-goer nor an accepted member of the village. One evening after having had a discussion with Mr. Warburton, he tries to kiss her. Her next-door neighbor sees the incident and the town-gossip begins.
When making costumes for a churchplay, Dorothy blacks out. When she awakens she finds herself wandering the streets of London, in flattered clothes, not knowing who she is or where she comes from. She has amnesia. A group of young people pick her up to go hoppicking. Dorothy introduces herself as Ellen. She now leads a poor life which farm laborers lead. What you earned by hoppicking was just enough to stay alive. One day Ellen (Dorothy) sees a newspaper article on ”the mystery of the clergyman’s daughter”. Her memory slowly comes back to her. She writes to her father and asks him for money to come home. She gets no reply and because it’s the end of hoppicking season she has to sleep on the street. She then ends up in prison. A rich uncle finds her and takes her in. He also finds her a job as a teacher in a small private school. When she tries to improve the teaching skills she is dismissed by Mrs. Creevy, the owner of the school. At the same time Dorothy receives a telegram from Mr. Warburton, who comes and rescues her. Back in Knipe Hill he proposes to her, but she turns him down. Although she left the village under mysterious circumstances she is accepted again by the villagers and resumes her way of life like before; as a clergyman’s daughter, looking after her father and doing parish work.
Conclusion:
I think what the writer is trying to tell us with his book , is that sometimes people can be extremely loyal to their religion. In this case he describes the life of a clergyman’s daughter who does everything she’s suppose to. She even pricks herself with a pin whenever she gets distracted of her churchwork. When she gets involved with a non church-goer, it is regarded as a dreadful sin and the whole town is against her. When she gets her memory back and asks to come back she is not allowed to. Lucky for her the villagers stopped believing the towngossiper, who was then libeled, and Dorothy could go home and resume her life as it was before. Only she had lost her faith forever.