Heidi In My View

 Heidi Summary

I would like to write a review of the book “Heidi” written by Johanna Spyri. The book shows the life of two children, HEIDI and CLARA. Both were lived in different backgrounds. Heidi spent 3 years in a swiss alp with her grandfather after her 5th year of life. Clara lived in Frankfurt city from infancy. But both were pleased to live with nature's beauty. The story shows the mental and physical development of the children when they had live in swiss alp.

 

The author briefly explains the happiest life of Hiedi when she was with her grandfather. and the saddest life in frankfurt when she was with Clara as a playmate. She mentally disappeared by being alone in the home. Heidi couldn’t accept the beauty of a delicious home in Frankfurt as much as she accepts the alp beauty. She recovers the mental satisfaction after she came back at swiss alp after a long year by the advice of Clara’s father’s friend doctor. Clara was weak in the walking. She was happy by the presence of Heidi. But Heidi rushes to go back to alp. Clara became unhappy by the absences of Heidi and she went to alp. Clara recovered her disability through life in swiss alp. Jealous life in the swiss and presence of friend Hiedi be the reason to have the ability to walk.

 

Completly I liked the story which got by the book. The only thing that made me upset is grandfather prevent Heidi to go to school. Even school workers requested grandfather would not allow them. For that reason, Heidi wouldn’t be able to read. she depressed by the words of shepherd peter who was her friend that would not able to read even go to the school. Because peter was failed in the reading while he was going to school. But even if she does not access to the school, she could understand the many things by daily life and she could understand the changes in nature which have in the Swiss Alp. Something changes happened in the learning of Heidi in Frankfurt. Heidi impressed to learn reading through the companion of Clara. Clara’s Grandmother helped her to learn reading. Knowledge about the god and his tests are taught by Clara’s grandmother. 

Anxiety to know everything, live according to their will, companion and take care of the caregiver, importance of social relation enough explained in the story. Life of Heidi in the frankfurt was a sleepless night. She would wake at midnight and go outside by seeing night dreams because she was not able to live according to her will. And she misses so much the peter’s grandmother who was very close to Heidi. Take care of the grandmother of Clara influenced in the Heidi. She loved her too. The contact with new persons in the swiss had made her happy. Firstly it seems with peter, then it with peter’s family.

Heidi’s character is free to contact or interact with anyone. She had to love everyone around her. She grew under the care of aunt after the death of mother alone 3 years. Aunt intends to keep her with grandfather because she gets a job in Frankfurt. Grandfather was a strange man who has not any connection with village people and lone life in the hill. Village people were afraid to come to that man, they kept away from him. The people concerned the life of Heidi with that strong man. But the presence of Heidi took changes in the character of grandfather. He enjoyed her love. She starts to become joyful to anyone in the swiss alp. Peter grandmother who was blind get light from the companion of Heidi. She learned every movement of goats by watching those. She was with peter while the shepherd lies the goats to the mountains. 

Even Heidi was upset in the life of Frankfurt, the Clar’s grand mother’s presence make her happy. Neither Clar’s mother nor tutor couldn’t understand the feeling of Heidi. Diplomatic moves of grandmother found the basis of cognitive development in the life of Heidi. She was very hard to set life in the city because strange in the culture. The different character of Heidi makes Clara’s family angry. It shows how the child grasps the culture by the interaction of caregiver and by the social contacts. Even Clara and Heidi was the same child, they had different character because they grew in a different background. We could understand the influences of society in children’s development. Another thing that children make different from the adults that, Clara could able to understand the feeling and homesick of Heidi even the others could not do that. 

When we are adding the human development theory of Bronferbenner, the author shows the different context of Heidi in the book. Home in the swiss alp, home at frankfurt, friendship with Clara and peter. The special belief of grandfather as ignoring the school access, peter unconfidential in the reading, Clara’s grandmother’s moral teaches, and relationship with peters family, these contexts are most influenced in the life of Heidi. And about Piaget’s development theory, social interactions made changes in the life of Heidi. As a long life with grandfather Heidi influences the life and character of alps people. Their characters are totally different from the village people’s behaviours. When Heidi went to the frankfurt, the Clar’s family can not accept the character of Heidi. They were angry with Heidi when she did a mistake in the home. But gradually Heidi could grasp the culture of the village through social interaction. 

Zonal proximal development theory of Vygotsky shows in the learning of reading in the Clar’s home. When grandmother shows some book to Heidi, she rushes to take that, but grandmother gave one condition that should learn the letters. But Heidi starts to cry and said that ‘i can’t read the letter’. But the grandmother helped to teach. After a longtime, Heidi studied to read with the help of grandmother. When she was returned to alp she also taught to peter to read and she read many poems to peter’s grandmother.