The main character in the story “The Impatient Little Girl,” Julia, can be characterized as a girl who has some trouble keeping calm and tolerant. This problem affects her relationship with her friends, but she only wishes that their relationship could be the best possible. When Julia, who should be no older than ten years old, plays with her friends, but they end up being unhappy at Julia because she has trouble being patient and tolerant of others. She wants to play games her way and not any other way. She wants them to play the game she wants to play without taking into consideration what everyone else desires to do. In the end, after her friends have left her as result of her behavior, she asks her mom for help concerning her patience issues. She realizes that she has become a misfit within her circle of friends, and that is something she wishes to change.
Reading “The Impatient Little Girl” has reminded me of the 2003 Walt Disney Pictures Pixar movie “Finding Nemo.” In “Finding Nemo,” the son, Nemo, ventures into the open sea and becomes captured by a scuba diver despite warning from his father, Marlin. Although the story and the movie are in many ways different, I’ve found a child-parent theme that make them, in essence, two very similar works. In both works, the parent warns the child about their respective dangers, and in both stories, the child disobeys the parent and ends up hurt. In “The Impatient Little Girl,” Julia ignores her mother’s guidance by continuing to be impatient and intolerant. In “Finding Nemo,” Nemo also ignores his father’s guidance by swimming too far from their home and into a dangerous area. Eventually, both children realize that what they did was wrong. Nemo is extremely happy he’s back with his father from what could have been a fatal experience, while Julia is now certain that she will not ignore her mother’s advice when it comes to being patient, calm, and friendly.
LYDIA MARIA CHILD, “The Impatient Little Girl,” in Flowers for Children, II, New York: C.S. Francis, 1844 (Pages 29-35)http://www.bostonliteraryhistory.com/chapter-4/lydia-maria-child-%E2%80%9C-new-england-boy%E2%80%99s-song-about-thanksgiving-day%E2%80%9D-flowers-children-ii
Graham Walters, Andrew Stanton, May 30th, 2003, “Finding Nemo.” Walt Disney Pictures Pixar.