Tomboys Are Girls, Too!: A Study of Sibling Relationships in Caddie Woodlawn

Authors

Julia G. Kicinski, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-15-2020

Abstract

Readers can understand the sibling relationships present in Carol Ryrie Brink’s novel, Caddie Woodlawn, by studying the main character’s tomboy personality. Many scholars read this character through a feminist lens, treating her solely as a fictional character. However, this paper approaches the character from a nonfictional perspective to study how Caddie as a tomboy relates to her strong relationship with her brothers. This paper takes the definition of “tomboy” into account, as well as the psychology behind the development of both strong and weak sibling relationships, to determine whether Caddie’s tomboyism developed because of her strong relationship with her brothers or if she became close to her brothers because of her already-existing tomboy personality.

Keywords

tomboy, sibling relationships, children's literature, Caddie Woodlawn

Advisor

Donald Deardorff

Recommended Citation

Kicinski, Julia G., "Tomboys Are Girls, Too!: A Study of Sibling Relationships in Caddie Woodlawn" (2020). English Seminar Capstone Research Papers. 35.
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/english_seminar_capstone/35

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.