Hello Readers!
Welcome to The 12 Days of Books – 12 Days highlighting our literary favorites, an annual tradition here at The Write Teacher(s).
Published by Bradbury and Evans in December of 1845, The Cricket on the Hearth is a delightful, domestic Christmas novel by Charles Dickens.
Serving as a baromoter for the Peerybingle household, the cricket residing on the hearth chirps in times of joy and remains silent in times of sorrow. The novel follows John Peerybingle, his wife Dot, a miser named Tackelton, Caleb Plummer, Edward Plummer, and May Fielding. The reader meets these characters in a time of romantic turmoil. Tackelton is scheduled to marry Edward’s sweetheart (May) and John is convinced that his wife has been unfaithful to him.
The Cricket on the Hearth is a slow novel. In its slow nature, the novel serves to reflect the pace of domestic life. I found Dickens’ passages about home life to be especially heartwarming. My favorite excerpt from this Christmas book is about serving your spouse:
“To be his patient companion in infirmity and age; to be his gentle nurse in sickness, and his constant friend in suffering and sorrow; to know no weariness in working for his sake; to watch him, tend him, sit beside his bed and talk to him awake, and pray for him asleep; what privileges these would be!”
For all of the selfish characters that have been penned, this passage is a beautiful example of what it means to be unselfish, loving, giving of your time and energy for someone else. This holiday season, I hope you reflect on Dickens’ words and find that serving your fellow man is not a burden, but rather a privilege.
PS: If you like this book, I recommend watching the 1967 cartoon version this year.
Live, Love, Learn,
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