Why do you believe Mrs. Mudford was so hostile to both Madeline and Amanda?
Mrs. Mudford was uncomfortable with people who didn’t fit the mold, who lived outside the parameters of what she thought a family should be. Single parenthood just wasn’t acceptable to her. If my child had been subjected to a teacher like that for two consecutive years, there’d have been hell to pay.
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She seemed to be an unhappy person who looked for ways to judge other people I think, out of jealousy and leading a small life. She was unable to accept anyone who didn’t fit her rules of the way life should be.it seems there are people who think the way they can feel better is to make other people feel worse.She was so petty and a terrible roll model for children. A real creep!
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I believe she was a miserable person and was jealous and instead of trying to understand other view points, she took the other approach.
Mrs. Mumford struck me as shallow person who made herself feel better by making others feel terrible. I couldn’t help but think that she wanted life to be like a nicely wrapped box topped with a pretty bow and anything that didn’t fit her idea of a perfect box was not worthy of her time or attention.
I was so incensed that with her attitude Mrs. Mudford would even be allowed to teach young children that I had to keep telling myself that Bonnie has Mrs. Mudford in the book for a reason, so I thought about her reason. Elizabeth asks, “What’s wrong with these women?” immediately after Mrs. Mudford voiced complaints about Madeline’s behavior again. This time it’s because Madeline refuses to participate in things like playing house. She wants to do things “more suited for boys.” Mrs. Mudford has willingly bought into the cultural stereotypes for gender and expects students to comply as well. Amanda can’t fit the mold because her father is her sole caretaker and that makes both she and Walter suspect in Mrs. Mudford’s mind. The fact that Elizabeth sees nothing wrong with Madeline’s wish to do “boy things” makes her suspect as well. Mrs. Mudford’s character is well named. The name “Mudford” historically was given to people who lived near mud or a muddy area. A “ford” exists in muddy conditions. In Mrs. Mudford’s case, the mud is in her brain and the brain is filled with self-righteous insistence on the cultural beliefs about “blue and pink.” She’s in the book to show the contrast between ways people think about the “blue and pink.” She alerts us to look carefully for the mud in our own brains
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Your breakdown of the name Mudford is interesting and helpful in further understanding some of the reasons for her rigidity and stereotyping.