The Dolls House and Big Brother Little Sister

            In both the short stories, "The Doll's House" and "Big Brother, Little Sister" the oldest child has been like a caregiver to the younger one. The oldest has always stood in front and taken the hit, to shelter his or her sibling from other people around them. In the story, The Doll's House, a prime example of this was how Lil (the older sister) always walked in front of Our Else, who trailed behind her wherever she went, "Where Lil went, Our Else followed." This represented that Our Else depended on her sister so much that she did not want to be left alone, where other children could pick on her. She hid from them all and every one of the harsh remarks went to Lil who always stood in front. It was always; "Lil Kelvey's going to be a servant when she grows up," they never said anything about Our Else or to her. In the story Big Brother, Little Sister, the boy is very much a father figure for the younger sister, even thought he is only about 9 years old. The children's mother was always saying, "Hema, look after your sister," so he did. Hema was always protecting Janey; he comforted her when his mother lashed out at the children, at one point in the story it says, "Janey had crawled into Hema's arms. Hema cradled her softly." To me this is what a guardian figure would do to their child, calm them and look after them.