Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

First published: 1871

Type of work: Moral tale

Themes: Education, friendship, and gender roles

Time of work: The late nineteenth century

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: Plumfield, New England

Principal Characters:

• Jo (Aunt Jo) Bhaer, the mother, strong, moral, and the epitome of motherhood, who has a winning way with all the boys
• Friedrich (Fritz) Bhaer, Jo’s husband, the intellectual and moral leader of Plumfield
• Nat Blake, a shabby, sickly orphan, who is sensitive and caring and talented at playing the violin
• Dan, another orphan, sullen and willful but strong and courageous, and very much in need of kindness and love
• John Brooke, Jr. (Demi), a bright, studious boy who is generally very religious, obedient, and well respected
• Daisy Brooke, Demi’s twin sister, who is motherly, ladylike, and compassionate
• Annie (Nan) Harding, a spoiled but bright, rambunctious, fun-loving tomboy
• Teddy (Uncle Laurie) Laurence, a kindly gentleman who sponsors promising boys, including Nat
• Tommy Bangs, mischievous, scatterbrained, and full of fun, but repentant and good-hearted

The Story

Little Men revolves around interactions among a dozen boys from about seven to sixteen years of age.

Homeless Nat Blake, an undernourished twelve-year-old, comes to Plumfield recommended by Teddy Laurence. Nat was formerly an entertainer, having played violin on the streets until his father’s death. Prosperous Teddy supports boys he recommends to the school, thus helping the boys as well as the Bhaers.

Nat soon becomes aware of Jo’s motherly nature and of Fritz’s strength of character. Their kindness wins him over quickly as they provide food, clothing, and physical and spiritual warmth. Since he is far behind all the boys academically, they help him, being charmed by his violin playing.

Nat is befriended by Tommy, who makes him a partner in an egg-selling venture. Ten-year-old Demi stimulates Nat intellectually and religiously, and Daisy, Demi’s twin sister, comforts him.

Feeling happy in Plumfield, Nat invites Dan, a fourteen-year-old orphan who had befriended him while on the streets, to join him at the school. With hesitancy, the Bhaers admit Dan. As expected, Dan resists their help, causes disruptions, is a bad influence on Nat and Tommy, and is finally dismissed. Eventually, Dan returns voluntarily, ready to accept the love offered him. The Bhaers discover that Dan has an aptitude for work as a naturalist, and they encourage him in this. They also arrange a friendship between Dan, who has wayward tendencies, and Demi, who is too studious; they consider that the boys will temper each other.

In the meantime, Daisy is the only little woman among all the little men, being there only because of the strong bond between her and her twin Demi. She is liked by all, but Jo believes that Daisy and the boys need more female companionship. Therefore, Jo arranges the enrollment of “naughty Nan,” who requires much of the Bhaers’ skill and tenderness to mold her into the courageous and sympathetic girl she ultimately becomes. A childhood romance develops between Nan and Tommy.

When Nat is accused of stealing Tommy’s egg money, everyone except Daisy and Dan turns against him. Daisy does not believe it and consoles Nat. Because Dan is so moved by Nat’s unhappiness, Dan finally says that he took the money. When they later discover that someone else is actually guilty, the boys make amends by buying Dan the microscope that he has always wanted.

Through all these experiences, the Bhaers are skillfully assisting, guiding, punishing, or consoling the various students in fascinating ways.

At the end of the story, Jo and Laurie talk. Jo says that she believes that all “her children” will be honest and good, but that there might be opportunity for Demi to blossom into something great, and for Nat to become a musician and Dan a naturalist. Laurie wants to know what magic Jo has used with the boys to bring out the best in them. Her response is that she tries to get the children to bring out the best in one another. “I only loved them, and let them see it. Fritz did the rest.”

Context

Little Men completes the trilogy of books dealing with Jo March’s development—first as a girl in Little Women (1868), second as a woman in Good Wives (1869), and finally as a mother in Little Men.

In Miss Alcott of Concord (1958), Marjorie Worthington establishes the Alcott family’s love, morality, and faith in God. Louisa dutifully lived her life by these precepts. A. Bronson Alcott, Louisa’s father, was industrious, a very idealistic man given to espousing righteous causes. Yet he was unable (and perhaps felt it immoral) to earn more than a bare subsistence. Louisa, seeing this, was determined to earn enough money to make her family comfortable. While she dearly loved her father, her own practicality rejected the part of his idealism that eschewed the earning of money. Louisa perceived money as a tool that would permit the development of her father’s ideals and her philanthropic desires. She even served as an army nurse during the American Civil War. After she wrote Little Women, she was both recognized and well rewarded. Other works followed, providing funds to support her philanthropic works.

In writing Little Men, she modeled the school at Plumfield on systems of education her father had developed. The life and educational system there contrasts strikingly with the mistreatment of the children in the orphanage described by Thomas Meehan in Annie: An Old Fashioned Story (1980). At Plumfield, children are cared for and allowed to be children. “Aunt Jo” even joins in their pillow fights.

Some readers may find Little Men’s characters too “goody-goody,” because the story was written at a time when many considered smoking, drinking, swearing, and fighting to be sinful. Others may find the story refreshing, liking to think back on people who preferred abstinence and self-control and hoping that there are still such people. Earl Hamner’s books Spencer’s Mountain (1961) and The Homecoming (1970) also have been thought of by some as overly moralistic, yet these books have been highly successful with other readers and appreciated because of the high moral values presented.

Little Men reflects the methods and ideals that Bronson taught his four daughters. It is from the context of her own life that Louisa May Alcott drew her depiction of the many high ideals that are continually being set before the boys and girls at Plumfield.