60 pages • 2 hours read
Pam Muñoz RyanRiding Freedom
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Having the Courage to Make Difficult Choices
Riding Freedom repeatedly depicts characters who must make courageous choices even though they are difficult. First, we learn about Vern, who had to have courage to flee from slavery in the South. Then Charlotte chooses to run away from the orphanage rather than stay and be mistreated by Mrs. Boyle and Mr. Millshark. Not only does it take courage to make the decision to leave, but she needs to sustain that courage as she attempts to find work and lodging while hiding her identity. Later in the novel Charlotte, posing One-eyed Charley, relies on courage to get back behind the reins and relearn how to drive stagecoaches with only one eye. Finally, it is courage that leads Charlotte to the election polls to cast a vote that is technically illegal.
Persevering Despite Any Obstacle
Charlotte exemplifies perseverance. She develops a dream for her life (owning her own horse ranch and living and working with Hay) and never stops working to achieve that dream. She also develops a plan to cast a vote to prove that women are just as capable as men, and she perseveres to make that happen. Although countless physical and emotional hurdles are thrown in front of her, she always pushes forward. Though she struggles to learn to control the reins of six horses at once, she keeps trying until she gets it. When she loses sight in one eye, she forces herself to learn to drive again even though James and Frank offer her a stock tending job, which is easier to do with one eye. Most people would accept that new position and its accompanying limitations, but not Charlotte. Instead, “she learned the different sounds the horses’ hooves made on different types of roads […] she relied on her one good eye to take over for the other. She trusted her senses. And the sixth sense she had for handling horses” (102). After learning to use all her senses, Charlotte then strives to master them, driving “back and forth over her route” until she memorizes “every rock and tree. She set a goal for herself. If she made ten clean, round-trip runs, she’d know she was as good as the next driver” (102). Just like when she learned to ride horses with Vern and drive coaches with Ebeneezer, she draws on an inner fortitude that allows her to keep trying until she gets it right. After all, “Charlotte had been proving herself her whole life and she wasn’t about to stop now” (101).
Gender Roles in 19th-Century America
Charlotte is born in 1812. Slavery was not officially abolished until 1865, and women would not win the right to vote nationally until 1920. This is the context for Charlotte’s life and her decisions. At this time women were second-class citizens, and an orphan girl was particularly limited. Without a family, money, or status, Charlotte has very few options. At the orphanage, her only role is in the kitchen. She hates kitchen work and feels much more connected to men’s and boys’ work. Despite hating it, she shows a strong work ethic, so Mrs. Boyle wants to keep her in the kitchen. This makes Charlotte feel even more trapped, fostering a strong need to escape. Because young girls were not allowed to travel alone, she feels she can only escape as a boy and so adopts a male disguise. Then, living as Charley teaches her that she can only achieve the American dream as a boy, and so she maintains the facade. The novel plays on the American trope of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps while illuminating the historical conditions that barred women from participating in the American dream.
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By Pam Muñoz Ryan
