They kept mentioning that Nettie was weak and sick. Did she have something wrong with her or was it just because of the conditions they lived in and the amount of food that the recieved?

-- Anonymous, February 18, 2000

Answers

I think that Nettie was always weak and sick because of the conditions she had to live in. She never had very much food to eat, and she was unhappy because her sister wasn't around. After Katy came to live with her and Ruth again, she seemed much happier than before. Ruth also never mentioned that she was sick or weak.

-- Anonymous, February 21, 2000

I believe it was the author's intention to leave the possible illness up to the reader. The main message may have been to make the reader understand that Ruth did not have money to take care of her children.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2000

I think that if you interpret Nettie as being sick, in any way, it shows how poor Ruth was. You hear a lot that back in those times, many children did not live very long, as like Ruth's first child. I think Fanny Fern was trying to make a connection there.

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2000