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Introduction

This extract is from Chapter 7 from the book "Heidi" by Johanna Spyri. The extract talks about the first morning in Frankfurt for Heidi and her actions and feelings about her new surroundings. Heidi is a German name and Frankfurt is also in Germany. This extract seems realistic as it talks about the normal actions that a person would do if he/she finds himself/herself in a new, unknown place. The title of the book "Heidi" tells us that the book talks about the life or autobiography of Heidi. Normally when a book is named after one of its characters, that character is the true protagonist of the book and the story is about him/her. The extract is written in 3rd person and uses a bit of direct speech also. "She could not think where she was" This phrase sounds like a sarcastic phrase and actually means that she didn't know where she was. It was as if she had been unconscious when she arrived at this place and didn't know how she reached here or what place this was. "She was sitting up in a high white bed, on one side of a large, wide room, into which the light was falling through ...read more.

Middle

Also she is very scared as she can only see walls and windows and thus her place of living feels like a maze to her. "She could see nothing but walls and windows and again walls and windows. Heidi felt quite frightened." Her normal attitude was to wake up early and see nature. She wanted to see if the sky was blue and the sun was above the mountains. "Heidi was accustomed to get up early and run out at once to see how everything was looking, if the sky was blue and if the sun was already above the mountains, or if the fir trees were waving and the flowers had opened their eyes." There is personification used to describe the fir trees as "waving" which is an action of a human during a greeting or farewell. Another personification is used by comparing the blooming of a flower to the opening of a human's eye. "As a bird, when it first finds itself in its bright new cage, darts hither and thither, trying the bars in turn to see if it cannot get through them and fly again into the open." ...read more.

Conclusion

"Fraulein Rottenmeier told her to follow and remain with Clara until the tutor should arrive and lessons begin." The use of the words lessons and tutor tells us that Heidi was home taught and did not go to school. This is also the reason why she wanted to look out of the window. She did not like staying enclosed and wanted freedom. After she found out that Sebastian can open the windows, she felt a "great relief" as she considered herself to be "shut up in prison." This tells us that Heidi was not at all happy with her place of living and she never went to school. Also she was forced to stay inside the house and not go out as if she was a prisoner locked up in jail. In my opinion, I feel that Heidi is a very sad girl. She is not allowed to leave her house and stays locked in as if she has committed a crime. She needs a bit of freedom. In life everyone needs a bit of freedom. Staying locked up in a place is worthless as u don't know the outside world. The writer has done a marvellous job in describing the environment and emotions in such a way, that I could actually imagine the whole thing happening right in front of my eyes. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate World Literature section.