The Death Of Mattie By Laurie Halse Anderson

“’Dead? Polly’s dead?’ I couldn’t have heard her properly. ‘Polly Logan?’ The sweat on my neck turned to ice and I shivered. ‘Our Polly? That can’t be’” (Anderson 14).

Mattie’s mother had come back with the news that Polly, the coffeehouse serving girl, is dead. At first, Mattie doubts it but after continuous questions she becomes devastated. This is a big loss for her as Polly and Mattie have been life-long friends. As stated in the book, together they grew up, played dolls, and completed their chores. Mattie lost the company of one of her good friends. This emotionally changed Mattie because at first her character was described as whining and lazy, but now she is devastated. It also changed her because it is her first real loss, aside from

Her name was the last bit of information I could get from her. Seeing her mother’s body, quite clearly a victim of yellow fever, on the bed seemed to make her mute. She stood before me, and before I realized what I had done, I picked her up and cradled her close” (Anderson 163). As Mattie is wandering the streets looking for food, she sees Nell, a young orphan girl whose mother is dead. Mattie decides to take Nell into her care as she can’t leave such a young girl all alone. We see a change in Mattie because enough though she is still suffering with her own problems, she can’t let this girl be alone and possibly die. In this time of crisis, Mattie can hardly take care of herself but feels it is right to take Nell in. Mattie shows a lot of maturity in the situation and proves that she is no longer a child.

“Every day more towns prohibited travel to or from Philadelphia. Even prices higher than any in memory couldn’t tempt farmers into the city with fresh food. I tried not to eat more than I absolutely had to. I tightened the drawstring of my skirts a bit more every morning” (Anderson

As many start thinking that she has died, Mattie believes in her mother’s capability of surviving the fever. After all the people who have died, Mattie knows her mother couldn’t have and would come back and start criticizing her any minute now. By now she has learned to stay positive and think for the well being of others in order to get through all the tragedies. This is a change because it is what will make her happy and overcome the rough obstacles that stand in her way.

“’When word gets out that the Cook Coffeehouse is open for business again, you won’t be able to keep tradesmen or customers away’” (Anderson 227). Mattie’s dream was always to expand the Cook Coffeehouse and travel to Paris, France. When talk about selling the shop arises, she proposes her idea of reopening and expanding the coffeehouse and asks Eliza to be her partner. Everyone is shocked and tries to steer her away from it, but Mattie sticks to her original idea. This shows a change in Mattie because though she has been through so much she will never give up on her dreams. She believes that she will be running the coffeehouse successfully when her mother walks in. This is so she can make her mother proud and accomplish her goals.

“I dashed across the street without looking.