Because the other travelers are fearful of contagion, Mattie and her grandfather are abandoned outside of the city with no way to get back. On the way there, her grandfather becomes sickly and is accused of having yellow fever. Reluctantly, Mattie and her grandfather begin the journey to stay with family friends, the Ludingtons, in the countryside. Mattie does the best she can to care for her mother, but both her mother and the doctor who is treating her recommend that she be sent away to avoid contagion. However, before a decision can be reached, Mattie's mother falls seriously ill. Many people have different opinions on the best way to control the epidemic, and within Mattie's family, there are debates about whether she should be sent to the country for her own safety. Amidst the intense summer heat, residents of Philadelphia begin to sicken and die from a strange disease that is eventually identified as yellow fever. Mattie Cook is a 14-year-old girl who lives with her mother and grandfather and helps them to run a thriving coffeehouse business. By losing someone so dear to her, Mattie truly experiences the intense feelings of pain and loss that death can bring.The novel begins in August 1793, in the city of Philadelphia. Grandfather's death is the one that hits closest to home for Matilda. Matilda will also wield his battle sword during the burglar attack and later uses it to defend the children in the coffeehouse. He teaches her the fundamentals of soldiering, which, believe it or not, actually come in handy when stranded in the country (Chapter 8). Much of what Matilda knows of the world, after all, she has learned from her grandfather.
He's a representative of an older generation that passes down their skills, history, and knowledge to the youngsters. Grandfather is a symbol of an earlier time since, as he reminds us over and over, he was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He's one of Matilda's most crucial mentors in the novel – the two are very close. He has a pet parrot named King George that he won in a card game.
Matilda's Grandfather is a solider, Captain William Farnsworth Cook of the Pennsylvania Fifth Regiment. Grandfather (Captain William Farnsworth Cook)
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