Avi’s 1990 adventure, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, illustrates how drastically a person can change over time. In the story, thirteen-year-old Charlotte Doyle travels from England back to America in order to reunite with her parents and siblings in Rhode Island. Due to various unforeseen circumstances, Charlotte makes the journey across the Atlantic Ocean in the summer of 1832 unaccompanied. Without any chaperones or companions, Charlotte is unique among the men who sail the merchant ship, the Seahawk. Before the ship leaves Liverpool, Charlotte has premonitions she cannot act upon. She explains of her acquiescent behavior: “What could I do? All my life I had been trained to obey, educated to accept. I could hardly change in a moment” (p. 18). As a thirteen-year-old girl, Charlotte feels powerless to make decisions based on her own beliefs. She explains that she cannot immediately forget her upbringing. In a completely different context aboard the ship, and away from her normal life, Charlotte finds, however, that she is capable of change over time.

Actions

While at first, Charlotte does no work aboard the Seahawk, over time, she takes on more responsibilities. In the early days on the ship, Charlotte professes: “With no chores to perform I spent the bulk of my day in idleness. I could wander at will from galley to forecastle deck, mates’ mess to wheel, but try as I might not to show it, I was sorely bored” (p. 67). None of the men on the Seahawk expect Charlotte to do any work. To the men, Charlotte is a young, wealthy, female passenger that is of no use to them. Without a purpose, Charlotte spends her initial days on the ship with nothing to do. However, she soon decides to help the sailors with their work. She shares: “I found myself spending more and more time in [the sailors’] company. In truth I had endless questions to ask as to what this was and what was that…I actually became something of a ‘ship’s boy,’ increasingly willing - and able- to run their minor errands” (pp. 68-69). Despite her differences from the ship’s crew members, Charlotte allows her curious and social nature to take over, and she disregards traditional expectations. She notices that the more she helps the men, both her desire to help and her skills increase. She comes to consider herself as a “ship’s boy” or minor helper. As Charlotte assumes more responsibility, she ultimately becomes like any other sailor aboard the Seahawk. She claims: “I pounded oakum into the deck. I scraped the hull. I stood watch as dawn blessed the sea and as the moon cut the midnight sky. I tossed the line to measure the depths of the sea. I took my turn at the wheel. I swabbed the deck and tarred the rigging, spliced ropes and tied knots” (p. 128). As she lists the activities in which she becomes engaged, Charlotte repeats the word, “I” to emphasize all of her personal work. Far from her initial idleness, Charlotte’s days become filled with activities: pounding, scraping, watching, tossing, steering, mopping, etc. Aboard the Seahawk, Charlotte undergoes a slow but complete transformation from idle passenger to busy sailor.

Appearance

As Charlotte’s activities change, so does her appearance. At the beginning of the journey, Charlotte lives according to her previous education. She explains one daily routine: “My day began with…a brushing of my hair for a full twenty minutes (I did the same at night). Finally, I parted it carefully, wanting it smoothly drawn - anything to keep it from its natural and to me obnoxious wildness” (p. 66). Charlotte carefully practices the learned habits regarding her hair. She devotes time to these activities every morning and evening. Charlotte explains that the purpose of her brushing, parting and smoothing is to make her hair look as different as possible to the way it naturally does. She tries hard to tame what she considers to be wild hair. After some time at sea, however, “My hair, uncombed for days, blew free in the salty air” (p. 130). On the ship, in a different environment, Charlotte stops her former habits with her hair. Instead of twice daily hair combing and styling, Charlotte does not bother with her hair for days. She also seems to change the way she describes her hair. Instead of “obnoxious,” she describes her unstyled hair as “free.” As Charlotte continues to do more work on the ship, she comes to value functionality over aesthetics. High up in the ship one day, Charlotte finally cuts her hair off entirely: “With my one free arm I pulled my hair around, grasped it with the hand entwined in the ropes, and pulled it taut. I took the knife and hacked. With a shake of my head my thirteen year’s growth of hair fell away. Feeling much lighter, I bit down onto the blade again and once more began to climb” (p. 140). Charlotte reaches a point during her sea voyage where she seems not to care about her hair at all. In one moment when her hair causes her trouble, she “hacks,” her hair off. She does not have her hair cut carefully, nor does she take any time to think about her haircut. In an instant, she knows what she wants to do, which is to free herself of hair that gets in her way. Charlotte feels “lighter” and better able to do the work she wants to do. While at sea, Charlotte slowly abandons her attention to traditional gender and class norms, and allows her appearance to better fit her chosen lifestyle.

Feelings

Charlotte begins her transatlantic voyage with the feeling of superiority over the ship’s crew; however, as she begins to acquire new daily habits and a new understanding of herself, she also begins to feel differently about others. Towards the beginning of her journey, Charlotte makes her opinion of one specific crew member, Zachariah, clear. She says: “Never had I met with such impertinence! That this Zachariah, my inferior, a cook, should tell such a slanderous tale of violence and cruelty regarding captain Jaggery to me - as though it were a confidence - was deeply mortifying. I would not, could not believe it!” (p.42). Charlotte finds Zachariah’s honesty with her inappropriate. She immediately disbelieves Zachariah because of his lower class, and retains all faith in Captain Jaggery because he is a man of higher status. Zachariah’s admission to Charlotte makes her feel embarrassed. Charlotte emphasizes how she does not trust Zachariah. As the time passes, though, Charlotte feels less revolted by Zachariah. She explains: “As might be expected I fastened particular attentions upon Zachariah. He had the most time to spend with me and had sought to be kind, of course, from the beginning…our conversations were increasingly free and easy” (pp. 69-70). Charlotte reasons that a friendship with Zachariah is only natural because of the amount of free time Zachariah has, and the amount of grace she can show. Charlotte confesses that she enjoys her conversations with Zachariah more and more. By the conclusion of their first transatlantic voyage together, Charlotte considers Zachariah as a family member. After being apart for some time on land, Charlotte finds Zachariah again and tells him: “Zachariah…I’ve decided to come home” (p. 221). Her words imply that she now considers her presence with Zachariah at sea more familiar and attractive than her former life. While at first Charlotte wants little to do with Zachariah, in the end she feels most at home with him.

Thirteen-year-old Charlotte undergoes a great change aboard the Seahawk’s journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The Charlotte that boards the ship in Liverpool has no knowledge of the life of a sailor. Due to a combination of circumstance and curiosity, Charlotte consciously decides to engage with the sailors, however, and begins to assist them where she can. Her choice to take part in the maintenance of the ship allows her to gain even more interest and skills regarding the ship. As she becomes a more active member of the ship, she decides to spend less time on her former preoccupations, specifically on the maintenance of a certain appearance. Charlotte spends less and less time on her hair until she finally rids herself of her hair. While Charlotte gains new habits, and loses old ones, she also develops new relationships. The Charlotte that boards the ship in Liverpool views the sailors as beneath her in status and worth. Her mind slowly changes, though, as gets to know Zachariah. The change in Charlotte’s life is not immediate, but it is complete. By the end of her experience on the Seahawk, Charlotte gains a new perspective on work, herself, and others.

References

Avi. (1990). The true confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Scholastic Inc.