45 pages • 1 hour read
Whittington
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Background
Historical Context: 1300s London and the Folk Legend of Dick Whittington
The character of Dick Whittington has both a historic and folkloric basis. Dick Whittington rose to prominence as the wealthiest merchant of his time and was elected lord mayor of London—a mostly ceremonial title that denotes his role as leader of both London’s government and financial sector—three times in the late 1300s and early 1400s. During that time, England’s population was recovering from the devastation of the Black Death, a bubonic plague that wiped out nearly a third of Europe’s total population just a few years before Dick was born. London recovered better than surrounding cities and was a center of manufacturing and industry, leading to exaggerated stories of its prosperity (such as the one Dick hears in the novel, that London’s streets are made of gold).
Although legend depicts Dick as a poor orphan who rises to wealth through luck and cunning, the real Dick Whittington was born the younger son of a knight of Gloucestershire, meaning that although he could not inherit his father’s wealth, he was part of the gentry. Dick was born in 1354, six years after the Black Plague ravaged Europe in 1348, and died in London in 1423. He left instructions in his will for his fortune to be donated to charitable projects, such as the creation of almshouses and hospitals; his role in improving living conditions for London’s impoverished contributed to Dick Whittington’s casting as a folk hero.
The most notable version of the legend of Dick Whittington, titled “The History of Whittington,” appears in Andrew Lang’s The Blue Fairy Book, a collection of English folklore. In the legend, Dick Whittington trades his cat, a prodigious ratcatcher, to a king in exchange for riches. The legend follows a standard “rags to riches” framework that exemplifies folk fantasies of escaping poverty, which were popular at the time.
Armstrong uses elements of both the real Dick and the fabled one for his iteration of Dick Whittington. The story that Whittington the cat relates to the barn animals mostly mimics the folk tale: After being orphaned, the young Dick finds his way to London, where he’s heard that the streets are made of gold. A sympathetic merchant takes him in, and Dick acquires a cat that makes him a fortune by killing vermin. This choice sustains a subtly folkloric atmosphere and promotes the novel’s exploration of The Power of Storytelling.
Medical Context: Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a disorder of the brain that affects language processing skills such as reading, writing, and spelling. It is the most common learning disability and affects up to 15-20% of people. The condition is frequently identified in early elementary school when students are first learning how to read. An individual with dyslexia has difficulty deciphering words and connecting them with the appropriate sounds and may frequently transpose letters when writing or reading aloud. As a result, dyslexic individuals frequently struggle to develop grade-appropriate reading comprehension and fluency, in addition to other academic challenges. Although there is no “cure” for dyslexia, reading strategies and modified learning approaches such as multisensory learning can help those with the condition manage its complications.
Dyslexia indirectly motivates Whittington’s arrival at the farm in the novel, as his previous owner was a young boy like Ben who struggled with dyslexia and was sent away to a special school to remediate it. The need to help Ben improve his reading skills to avoid failing the year provides an impetus that draws all the inhabitants of the barn and the two children together as they work towards a common goal. Armstrong realistically depicts Ben’s struggles with dyslexia as the animals coach Ben through his “reversing” of words and confusion with similar-looking letters, like lowercase p and q and b and d. The novel also depicts the emotional and social challenges Ben faces as indirect or direct consequences of his dyslexia, such as difficulty managing frustration when it comes to reading and fear of judgment from his peers. Ben’s journey to overcome his difficulty with reading illustrates both the importance of the perseverance he learns from Dick Whittington’s story and the profound impacts reading has upon one’s life.
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