The Midwife's Apprentice

by Karen Cushman

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Discussion Topic

The names of the three village boys and the apprentice in The Midwife's Apprentice

Summary:

The names of the three village boys in The Midwife's Apprentice are Jack, Will, and Tom, and the apprentice's name is Jane Sharp.

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What are the names of the three village boys in The Midwife's Apprentice?

The Midwife's Apprentice is a story of perseverance and hard work. It begins by introducing readers to a girl that is homeless and sleeping on dung piles. Jane will take her in, but that gesture is hardly selfless. Jane thinks that "Beetle" will essentially be relatively cheap labor. Consequently, Jane is not a loving and nurturing mentor. Beetle will eventually change her name to Alyce, and she will begin learning how to be an effective midwife.

Jane is not the only character in the book that heaps abuses on Alyce. As a homeless child that sleeps on dung heaps, Alyce is ridiculed by other children in the book. Three village boys are specifically mentioned at various parts of the novel; however, readers have to do a little bit of work to figure out which boy is which. When the boys are introduced to readers, Jack is the only boy that...

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is named. The other boys are described. One is a boy with red hair, and the third boy is a boy with a constantly runny nose. As readers make their way through the book, we will eventually link those descriptors to names. The boy with the runny nose is Wat, and the boy with the red hair is Will.

The demon sounded mighty like Will, the boy with tad hair who used to torment her and now did not so much.
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What are the three names of the apprentice in The Midwife's Apprentice?

When the reader is first introduced to the novel's protagonist, her "name" is Brat. That name does not stick with her for very long, because Brat is taken in by Jane in order to be a cheap source of extra labor. Jane calls her "Beetle" because Jane found Brat/Beetle on a dung pile. The name Beetle stays in usage for quite some time. It is not until Jane breaks her ankle that a third name will come into usage.

Because of Jane's broken ankle, she can't travel. The solution is to send Beetle into town for supplies. It happens to be the Saint Swithin's Day Fair, so there are a lot of people and events going on with this particular supply outing. While at the fair, someone mistakes Beetle for somebody else, and he calls her Alyce. Beetle likes the name, so she decides to take it as her own.

This particular name change is symbolically important because it shows readers a confidence shift in Beetle/Alyce. She no longer feels like the weak girl that lived in piles of dung like a lowly bug. She is Alyce, the midwife's apprentice. Her knowledge of the craft has been growing. Her skill set has grown and improved. Consequently, Beetle's overall confidence in herself as a human being has grown. She isn't a bug, so she doesn't need an insect name. She is a human that can contribute to society, and the name Alyce reflects that new inner strength and confidence.

What a day! She had been winked at, complimented, given a gift, and now mistaken for the mysterious Alyce who could read. Did she then look like someone who could read? She leaned over and watched her face in the water again. "This face," she said, "could belong to someone who can read. And has curls. And could have a lover before nightfall."

"Alyce," she breathed. Alyce sounded clean and friendly and smart. You could love someone named Alyce. She looked back at the face in the water. "This then is me, Alyce." It was right.

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