FEVER 1793 Character Analysis

In the book FEVER 1793 by Laurie Hall Anderson, The main character, Matilda, changes herself when yellow fever strikes in order to survive in the harsh environment around her. In the beginning, Matilda couldn’t care less about her work that was given to her by her mother and wished she could escape (until the fever strikes). Later on in the story, she wants to stay by her sick mother and protect her. Towards the end, Matilda starts taking care of herself-as well as Nell, an orphan of the fever while trying to find her mother. Matilda changed for the good in FEVER 1793 even though the fever almost killed her in the process. Matilda is now strong, smarter, and more mature.

Throughout the novel, Matilda became both mentally and physically stronger. In some of the hardest times for her in the novel, Matilda stayed strong and moved on without regret. In the
Matilda was an unhappy coffee girl, but in the end became CEO of the Cook Coffeehouse. As stated in the text, “Giving my mother a bath felt upside down and backwards.” (Page 66) Matilda did not want to bathe her Mother. In fact she would do anything but that. Although she was scared, Mattie did not want to care for her Mother, she wanted it the other way around.As stated in the text, “I cradled her head in my arms.” (Page 238) In the end, Matilda showed that she cared for her Mother much better by caring for her Mother whom was weak and depressed at the death of William. Over the course of the novel, Mattie became a much more mature and is now considered an adult by many. Matilda gained many aspects of an adult in FEVER 1793.
Matilda changed with the city as FEVER 1793 (by: Laurie Hall Anderson) took down the city and capital of the United States of America. Because of this change, Matilda is now strong, smarter, and more mature. Although FEVER 1793 can’t end on a high note like most books, it gets really close with Matilda’s change of body, heart and