Discussion Report, Group __________________ Reporter:__________________________

Others participating:
 
 
 

1. As we know from Tom Sawyer, circuses were very much prized by nineteenth-century children.  How and to what extent is this book a "nostalgic recreation of an old-time traveling circus," as the cover blurb puts it.  What features of the circus go beyond what the child who had gone to a circus (and even the "St. Petersburg" boys, who think the county seat is far away, have seen one)would have seen, and what features could have been observed by anyone who went to the circus?  What features may be peculiar to this circus and not characteristic of all circuses?

2. When Toby returns home, what material things has he brought back from his "ten weeks with a circus"?  What are the overt and possible underlying reasons for this feature of the plot?  What is the "moral" (message or theme) of the story?  If a modern author decided to redo this story in contemporary terms, what might he have Toby do?

3. How does Toby differ from and resemble  Ragged Dick? Be sure to consider both qualities of personalities and efforts as a working boy.  Do not consider his relationships with adults.

4. How do Toby's relationships with adults differ from and resemble those of Dick Hunter and Tom Sawyer?

5. This is the first story we have read in which a pet figures prominently (despite the cats mentioned in Alice, Old-Fashioned Girl, and Tom Sawyer, and the dogs in Old-Fashioned Girl).   To what extent is this a story about a child and his pet?  Note that the pattern of the story is to make Toby unhappy, relieve the unhappiness in some way, make him unhappy again, etc.  How does Mr. Stubbs fit into this pattern?

6. What interest/value would this book have for little girls?    For educators?  For animal rights activists?  Can you think of other groups to whom the book sends "messages" beyond its intended warning for boys thinking of running away?