The Rocking Donkey

            “How is your little girl?” people would ask. “Is she at home or at boarding school?” “Oh, she is at home,” was what Mrs. Mitching would say. Although, people had no idea what poor Esmeralda was going through. She was simply mistreated by Mrs. Mitching. She basically had the necessities of life, but that was it. She was like a neglected pet to Mrs. Mitching, getting the same food everyday; bread, margarine, boiled fish, and prunes. In addition to this, she wore an old, brown dress and torn up shoes. Mrs. Mitching was wealthy, although she was always spending her money on organizing events and opening public places, so she had little money for Esmeralda and couldn’t afford school for her. Mrs. Mitching cared more about her work than her own daughter. Worst of all, Esmeralda had a big “playroom” but absolutely nothing to do in this irony.

         
             This story is an irony because Mrs. Mitching is the strong, dominant force, and Esmeralda, the main character, is weak in power. It begins with Esmeralda being poor, and the conflict is very serious; she has nothing to do. She gets a rocking donkey, and falls in love with it. When Mrs. Mitching donates it to the museum, she goes insane. Esmeralda starts thinking that she sneaks into the museum, and starts talking to the donkey. She must be insane, because this part is very fictional. Then, she thinks that she gets on it, and starts flying away. This is even more unrealistic.

        
               Esmeralda is a good, strong person in this story, for you never once hear her complain. She is badly taken care of, but she takes her problems and tries to make the best of them. To begin with, she doesn’t have her dress to wear to the rummage sale event, so she says, “I’ll have to go as I am.” Another example is when it talks about that in the past; someone had given Esmeralda a piece of twine. She was smart enough to know that she could use it to jump rope. Equally important, Esmeralda is very thankful for what she has, but wishes for more. Her wishes come true when a man gives her a shilling at the rummage sale. Esmeralda decides on a rocking donkey, which she treats like a real pet. She is heartbroken when Mrs. Mitching makes her donate the donkey to a museum. Although her friend is gone, you somehow know, at this point, that things will turn out well in the end.

      
              Mrs. Mitching is the type of person that really enjoys her work, for she was away from home a lot. She was rich, but spent most of her money on opening things and organizing events. Sadly, she didn’t seem to care very much about Esmeralda. Mrs. Mitching didn’t seem to feel bad for Esmeralda either, because in the story there was an event that showed this. As soon as Mrs. Mitching saw that Esmeralda had the rocking donkey, she made Esmeralda scrub it clean, like she was her maid or something. Then Mrs. Mitching took it and donated it to a museum, not even bothering to think about Esmeralda. This is Mrs. Mitching’s wicked personality.

         
            Overall, work seemed more important than Esmeralda to Mrs. Mitching. Mrs. Mitching was the mean, rich stepmother, and Esmeralda was the poor, hopeless, little girl whose only friend was taken away. Esmeralda probably went on living her neglected life. That is, if she really did go insane. Maybe she did ride off into the night on the donkey. What do you think happened to Esmeralda?