Introduction
In the Class 9th English textbook, the little girl is a chapter about a girl named Kezia. The central theme of the story revolves around the father and daughter relationship. With this chapter, you will get to know that the author Katherine Mansfield tried to showcase the parents' bond with their children.
In some cases, children might not feel that their parents love them as they are quite strict and even scold them a bit when they do something wrong. But eventually, when the time comes, parents are the ones children look for in terms of security and comfort. When the children grow up, they realize that all the scolding that was done was necessary to make them the good person they are now. Besides, beneath the strictness lies a soft heart that is full of love for the children. In this Class 9 English, the little girl gives you the perfect moment to cherish the love between father and daughter.
Chapter 3 of the English textbook from Standard 9 consists of the story of The Little Girl. This story is about a little girl who lived with her parents and grandparents and was scared of her father. As the story unfolds there is a curiosity that arises whether she will ever open up to her father or not! IF you are a student who would like to understand the story of The Little Girl in a short paragraph and would like to read The Little Girl Summary for Class 9 then here it is provided by Vedantu along with the takeaways from this chapter.
The Little Girl Summary
The chapter little girl Class 9 has a title that says a lot about the story that the readers will read. The name of the little girl is Kezia, and the main story revolves around her only. With this story, the writer wants us to feel the bond of love that children have with their parents.
In the story, we get to know about Keiza, who lives with her father, mother, and grandmother. The girl was young, and she was afraid of her father, and in most cases, she looked for a way to avoid him. Moreover, she feels a sense of comfort as her father leaves for the office.
She thinks her father appears to be rude, harsh, and critical when he is in front of her. On the other hand, her grandmother knows about the fear, but she believes her granddaughter needs to confront her fear, and the parents aren’t that harsh on her. She asks Kezia to go to the drawing-room and talk to her parents. Still, Kezia finds her parents to be cold towards her.
On her father’s birthday, Kezia thought about preparing a pin cushion to make him feel special and giving that cushion as a present. She stitches the casing of the pillow, but to complete it, she needs to fill the cushion with something. That’s when she goes to her parent’s room and finds the sheets of fine paper. Without reading any of the documents, she tore them apart and stuffed them into the cushion.
The papers she used to stuff her cushion have the port authority speech, which her father has penned down after working hours. She accepted her mistake and tried to explain, but her father was too angry to listen to her. He punished her with a ruler in her palm.
The Little Girl Story
In English, little girl means a child, not in their teens. She was too young to understand the importance of the speech, and once she got punished, she asked God what fathers made for? She saw her neighbor Mr. McDonald having fun with his five children. They were playing games, enjoying themselves, and laughing. This event changed her mind map, and she thought all fathers are not similar. One day her attitude towards her father changed. Someday her mother was not feeling well, and she needed to be hospitalized.
Thus, her grandmother also has gone to the hospital. The day was fine, and it felt pretty normal to her. But when the night was coming, she felt fear growing inside her. In the middle of the night, she works up screaming and weeping as she just had a terrible nightmare. When she opened her eyes, she saw her father standing right next to her bed. Her father carried her to his bedroom and made her feel comfortable.
Her father told her to rub her feet with his legs to get them warm. She spends the rest of the night with him feeling safe and secure. From that day, she knew her father wasn’t a bad person. He does love her and takes good care of her. He had to work hard the whole day to provide a living for the family, and thus, when he comes back, he becomes too weary of playing with her.
FAQs on The Little Girl Summary: A Short Story by Katherine Mansfield
1. Why are Parents the Best Teachers?
There is no denying that parents are the best teachers for their kids, no matter what the children think, but the parents are always there for them in time of need. Parents provide both love and affection, which the children need as they grow up. Secondly, as the child grows, they are the ones who are responsible for making children learn their first few words. Also, they help in locomotor development.
They teach kids how to write their names and hold the pencil in the right way. Your parents make you learn how to sing different nursery rhymes and make you respect your classmates.
2. Should Children Feel Scared of their Parents?
The very first thing the parents need to know is to make their children respect you, not to have to fear you. You do not want your children to feel scared of you when they come up to you if they need anything or want to tell you something which might be embarrassing. This will cause your children to keep secrets from you.
In addition to this, the fear which builds inside the children’s minds won’t change the bad behaviour that you see in them. It will only increase the secrets which they keep from you. Children who fear their parents start to lie to them at a very young age. When it comes to teaching your kids about being respectful to others, you need to be a good role model.
3. What are some of the values that Chapter 3: The Little Girl provides?
Chapter 3: The Little Girl provides the following values to students:
1. Love for parents: While it was surely hard for Kezia to understand why her parents were doing so, later on, Kezia did realize why all of the incidents occurred and showed her love for her parents.
2. Respect for parents: Parents do a great job of working hard and looking after their children and hence every parent needs to be respected for what they do.
3. Being happy with what you have: While Kezia did get a little jealous about her neighboring kids having a lovely father, she later understood the value of being happy with the parents she had and how to love them the way they are.
4. What message does The Little Girl Summary for Class 9 provide the students?
It is often seen that in a family the interpersonal relations between the parents and the children, siblings, and even elders of the family should be good so that a smooth and successful life can be led. However sometimes due to some small misunderstandings, this bond between the family tends to break. This results in negativity. This story is hence dedicated to both parents and children where the children need to trust their parents and open up while the parents should understand why even the smallest of physical punishments can lead to a deep scar in their child’s life.
5. Who are the characters who are involved in Chapter 3: The Little Girl Summary for Class 9?
There are 4 main characters that are involved in Chapter 3: The Little Girl Summary for Class 9 and they can be listed as follows:
1. Kezia: Kezia is described to be a small girl who is scared of her father. There was a point where she almost hated him, however later on she understood the reason behind her father’s actions and noticed how he cared deeply about her.
2. Kezia’s Father: Kezia’s father is depicted to be a man who is strict and uptight. But in reality, he is just a bit timid to show the love which he actually has deeply for his daughter.
3. Kezia’s Mother: Kezia’s mother has been depicted as a strict woman as well just like her father. She wanted Kezia to follow all the orders that her father had given her and that in order to be a good girl, she needed to follow what her father said.
4. Kezia’s grandmother: Kezia’s grandmother was depicted to be an old lady who is very humble in nature. She was the one who took care of Kezia whenever she felt sad due to her father’s strict behavior.
6. What was the cause of Kezia’s misunderstanding that could have been solved right away according to The Little Girl Summary for Class 9?
The main cause of Kezia’s misunderstanding that could have been solved right away was the shortage of communication. Had Kezia been open to her father and told him how she had actually felt she would have been more comfortable with him in the start itself. Hence communication is one of the factors that all the family members should practice with each other. It is only then that all the members of the family can understand each other and behave accordingly. Not only was Kezia partially responsible for such a demeanor but her parents were also at fault where they did not open up to their child and understand her feelings.
7. How should the children behave in front of their parents according to The Little Girl Summary for Class 9?
Through Chapter 3: The Little Girl Summary for Class 9 it is understood that while it is important that children behave with respect in front of their parents and show them love, they should also not be scared to open up to their parents if they have any trouble. Chapter 3: The Little Girl Summary for Class 9 also teaches that no matter what the condition is, children could solve the problem by just making sure they have followed their parent’s instructions and do not cause trouble. With this, Vedantu provides Chapter 3: The Little Girl Summary for Class 9 along with some great Vedantu NCERT Solutions for Class 9 that will come in handy during the exams.
