Love Of Seven Dolls
Love of seven dolls by Paul Gallico. Doubleday. 1954. 126 pages. Young adults
The author, the title and the content of Love of seven dolls are completely irresistible. The book opens with a young girl called mouche standing at the banks of Seine where she is planning to throw herself. Like any other reader there is need to read ahead to understand why she would want to commit suicide.
Eventually, one understands that it is the war that caused her all her problems. She had lost both her parents in the war. She had dreamt of the stage, and in return worked hard and saved just so that she could be in Paris. Unfortunately, she realized she lacked the talent and the looks that were needed for her to become successful. By the time she was twenty two, she had not accomplished her dream to succeed since she had no money, no friends to help her, and no home.
The reader is aware of the characters thoughts. For instance, one could tell that Mouche was lonely and helpless. Her parents who whose role was critical at this age were no where to be found. She had not one to lean on as a friend. Her life and world is void and filled with emptiness. After trying all her best, one could feel Mouche had come to the end of the road that led to the destiny of her life. She wanted to be dead!
At first, the setting, which is at the banks of Seine, is so void and she is all alone except for an empty puppet booth with a sign “Captaine Coq et sa Famile.” It was a perfect setting as there was nobody who cared or would ever care she had drowned herself in Seine. She had come at this bank to be to terminate her life. However, it was only the end of her emptiness and lack of friends. In a minute she saw one puppet, in another she saw seven. all of these puppets came to talk to her and witness what was happening.
To her it appeared so magical yet it was real. The seven puppets brought the reality as they had characters so human such that she forgot they were no human. The puppets became her best friends and they provided to her the warmth she had not experienced before. With the puppet also came true her dream of being in the theatre. She found herself in the magic of theatre and was happy had dreams had come true.
The theme of the book is in the times of our troubles, we need to embrace childlike innocence like Mouche whose interaction with the puppets is a necessity and refuge to forget what she could not cope with. The magic friends and the magic theatre convert Mouche’s world from she wanted to get away from to a world giving her the chance to become a successful actress. Although the world of the puppets is happy, the world of the puppeteer behind these puppets is very unhappy. Like Mouche, the puppeteer was so unhappy and could treat his new protégé and the young boy working with him.
At first, Mouche’s problem is only half solved as she could suffer being abused by Peyrot, the puppeteer who married her, while during her sessions on the stage with the puppets, she could experience entrancing joy. Although she is tempted to leave Peyrot and get married to Balotte, she returns to her abusive Peyrot as she understands that she is the only one who could change him from the evil man he was to a man filled with tenderness and kindness. Eventually, her love for Peyrot managed to deliver him from the long nightmare to become life’s reality. I have realized that some people are the way they are because of the terrible things that have happened in their lives. All they need is for us to understand them and look for that one thing that will make them emerge from their cocoons and experience the reality of life.
The intended audiences are young adults. The conversion from childhood to adult hold is very challenging and filled with lots of decision making situations. All that is needed is a choice to demonstrate our level of maturity.
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