The Mill On The Floss

Kayla writes:

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot has a rather boring beginning. I still need incouragement to keep reading because it does not seem like there is a point to the story. Young Maggie Tulliver is in need of love and affection from her family, mainly her older brother Tom. She does not let her mother curl her unruly black hair like all the other girls, and she does not even try to keep clean. What people around her do not realize is that she is very smart, and reads books that girls do not normally read. Maggie runs away to live with the gypsies but eventually gets sick of their food and way of living and goes home. Tom never appreciated Maggie until he attended private schooling. He was the only one in his class and his teacher was not impressed at all with his learning skills. He began to miss Maggie and when she came to visit him she offered to help him learn. The teacher is impressed with her skills but says wome n only have "superficial cleverness". Tom is relieved to go home at christmas for the half year.