Worldviews of Different Authors

          Over the past two weeks, I have been learning about worldviews. Over the past year, I have read several books by several authors. I will explain what a worldview is, even using examples of worldviews. I will also write what I think the worldviews of some of the authors were.

          A worldview, as you can see in the name, is someone’s view of the world. Everyone has a different worldview. For example, a very common worldview is Theism. Theism is the belief that there is a God and He interacts with the world. The opposite worldview of Theism is Atheism. Atheism is the belief that there is no God, of any sort. There is also Deism, which is the belief that there is no God, but there is a supreme being out there. That supreme being has no interaction with the world at all. There are many other worldviews, and you can determine the worldview of a person based on the way they act, or talk about their beliefs. You can also determine an author’s worldview by reading their books!

          The first author is Louisa May Alcott. Alcott is the author of many books including the famous Little Women, The Mysterious Key and What it Opened, and the book I just finished, Little Men. I discovered that Alcott grew up believing in the Transcendentalistic worldview. Transcendentalism is the belief that there is a little bit of good and divine in everyone, even if you can’t always see it. Reading Little Men, I can really see this worldview in her writing. For example, Miss Jo and Father Bhaer believe that they can help every child who comes to their school because everyone has a little bit of good in them. This belief is especially brought out when Nat’s friend Dan first comes into the story. Later in life, Louisa May Alcott became Feminist. Her worldview is extremely brought out in the character in Little Women, and Little Men, Jo. Jo is one of the sisters, but she is always the one to speak for women. She is also an author like Alcott! I have not read The Mysterious Key and What it Opened yet, but I am sure it is the same way. As you can see, Louisa May Alcott’s worldview is brought out greatly in the books she wrote.

          Another example of an author would be George Alfred Henty, or better known as G. A. Henty. I have read many of Henty’s books, including The Knight of the White Cross, The Dragon and the Raven, Wolf the Saxon, Lion of the North, and my personal favorite, The Cat of Bubastis. Reading these books, it becomes more believable that Henty had a Theistic worldview, which was true. Also, apparently Henty would preach about the Bible in his books and in person! For example, in The Cat of Bubastis, the main character’s (Amuba) master (who is also his best friend’s father) is the Egyptian Head Priest, however, he secretly believes in the Bible, and teaches his family and Amuba about it. As you can see, it is clear that G. A. Henty’s worldview was Theism.

          In conclusion, everyone has their own worldview. Sometimes, you can determine a person’s worldview based on their behavior and beliefs. You can even determine the worldview of an author depending on their characters or how the narrator describes the story. After reading their books and doing research, I think that Louisa May Alcott believed in Transcendentalism and G. A. Henty believed in Theism.