Optimism

I really like Ned and his mother Ellen ( I think) They're both optimist! So far it seems as though nothing gets them down for too long, they're both true survivors. Ned gets his attitude from his mom as well. He has a strong sense of responsibility over her family and so does she. He tries to work as hard as he can despite his age and thinks of ways and strategies to get money and food for his family, like when he stole the calf from Murray. As for his mom when the house burned down and when her husband died, she did not skip a beat, she went straight to work and eventually found some way to get them a plot of their own.

The scene when his uncle was hitting on his mom, again Ned felt he had the responsibility to protect her and then his mom felt like she had to responsibility to protect Ned when the uncle had hit her son (44). I was pleased with this behavior because some moms let men hit on their children just so they can have a man but this was not the case with Ellen! Over all despite their poverty and events of adversity, they stay positive and happy as they can. I think that over coming adversity is definitely a theme or feature within this novel.