Daddy-Long-Legs

07 November 2012

"It's the kind of character I'm going to develop. I am going to pretend that all life is just a game which I must play as skillfully and as fairly as I can. If I lose, I am going to shrug my shoulders and laugh---also if I win."

-Judy Abbot of Daddy-Long Legs

I was Christmas shopping for the multitude of younger cousins I have (my mother dumps gift shopping on me every year if she has to). One of those cousins is a twelve year-old bookworm named Arielle. Her shelves are probably lined with all the Harry Potters and Percy Jacksons, so I decided to get her a classic.

I bought her Daddy-Long-Legs because I haven't read it yet. Do you think it's evil of me to read it before giving it to her? I was careful not to crease the cover :). I re-wrapped it after reading it. Haha.

Anyway, I first knew of Judy Abbot when an anime adaptation of the story was broadcasted on ABS-CBN back in elementary school. I didn't follow it religiously, but I was familiar with the skinny orphan girl with braided hair, her life in the orphanage, and her journey through college.

Reading the book gave me a different perspective on the story. It only has two chapters: one on Judy's life in the orphanage, and another containing the collection of letters she sent to Mr. John Smith, a.k.a. Daddy Long Legs. 90% of the book is in the form of one-sided letters.

Her letters describe college life during America's early 1900s. It's interesting because it's so different from college today. Of course college here is different from college in the States both academically and socially, but you get the point.

I was fascinated with how conservative everything was back then. There were no co-ed schools, and Judy's school only had 400 students (at least her house did). Brothers and fathers and other male relatives couldn't visit them unless they had notarized forms proving their familial relationship. They had bells signalling their daily activities like eating, sleeping, and going to classes.

Times were also very simple. There was no internet or TV so everyone engaged in activities like sports and art and drama, etc. Students visited each other in their dorm rooms just to chat. Judy herself was popular because she writes and plays basketball and joins races, etc.

In their dorms they had waitresses... AND CHAMBERMAIDS!!! If my former dorm Ilang-ilang had chambermaids I would  not have moved out.

But despite the difference in era, I could relate to her. The introductory quote is something that I think everyone in college has sworn they would do after a series of bad events. I know this because of the countless Facebook statuses that come up after enrollment and midterms and finals (heh).

I could also relate to Judy's way of adapting to the culture shock. I'm not saying that I came from poverty, but back in first year I was totally surprised to find that some of my classmates have their own cars, some have drivers, and some have never taken public transportation ever in their lives. In the book, Judy felt some resentment towards her background because her classmates had so much and she was raised with so little, but as time went by, she let it all go and found out that material things are handy, but they are not everything.

One thing I couldn't relate to is her lack of family. Having a large family, I am always with either a sibling or a cousin. It must have been very lonely for Judy, but at least she has Daddy-Long-Legs.

I think the story would have been better if I didn't know who Daddy Long Legs was. But I was spoiled by a friend named Aileen. Grrrrr...

To conclude, I think that Daddy-long-legs is an good read. It gives a glimpse of a time when everything was different, but it makes you realize that some things will remain the same.