Johnny And The Lapham example essay topic

Ryan Macdonald Johnny TremainEsther Forbes Setting Boston Massachusetts around (1773 to 1775). Revolutionary War era. Characters Johnny Lyte TremainYoung boy who's mother died when he was young, apprenticed to a silversmith named Mr. Lapham. Main character in the book. Mr. Lapham silversmith that Johnny is apprenticing.

He is a good silversmith but he cannot remember his orders very well. Mrs. LaphamJohnny's foster mother. She provides Johnny with room and board while he is shadowing Mr. Lapham. Cilla Lapham Third daughter out of four in the Lapham family.

She is the nicest to Johnny. She is constantly taking care of her younger sister Isannah. Isannah Lapham Fourth daughter in the Lapham family. She was the rudest to Johnny. Cilla had to take care of her because she was so small and sickly. RabJohnny's closest friend.

A couple of years older than Johnny, he worked for the Boston Observer printing newspapers. Rab helps Johnny throughout the story. Dusty & Dove Boys who were also apprenticed out to Mr. Lapham. Johnny was better at everything. The two boys got stuck with the worst jobs and did not like Johnny for being so good as a silversmith. Dove was mean to Johnny because Johnny was so bossy toward the both of them.

Paul Revere A local Boston silversmith known for his great work. He was kind and generous. He was a member of the secretive "Observers" club at the Boston Observer. He is a Whig. John & Samuel Adams Local Whigs, highly recognized men in Boston.

They are also part of the "Observers" club. Merchant Jonathan Lyte very prosperous merchant who is kin to Johnny. He is very dishonest and steals from Johnny. He wants nothing to do with Johnny. Lavinia Lyte Merchant Lyte's daughter. She is very beautiful and men like her a lot.

Johnny likes her. She is sort of rude to Johnny in the beginning but in the end, she becomes very nice to him. John Hancock Another well respected man in Boston. He is a local Whig and is also a member of the "Observers" Club. Mr. LorneJohnny's new master after his hand was severely injured at the Lapham's silver shop. He is very kind and allows Johnny to deliver papers by horseback.

Mr. Lorne is the writer and publisher of the Boston Observer Pumpkin A British Redcoat who befriended Johnny. In the end Johnny tries to help him escape from being a soldier and he is caught and killed for treason. General Stranger A British General Who helped Johnny with his horse riding skills. Johnny helps him by taking care of his horses. What Stranger does not know is that Johnny is also spying on them and reporting to the "Observers" club which was set up to spy on the British. Doctor Warren A doctor who is also a member of the "Observers" club.

He is a local Whig. He also helps Johnny along the way. In the story Johnny Tremain, Johnny is sent to apprentice Mr. Lapham after his mother died. In doing so he became one of the best apprentices to a silversmith that there ever was. Dove and Dusty (the other apprentices) were lazy and slow.

Johnny liked to boss them around and tell them what to do. One day Dove got very angry at Johnny and handed him a broken crucible. When Johnny melted the silver, the crucible broke and spilled scalding hot silver all over his right hand. Johnny could not go to a doctor to get it fixed because it was the Sabbath day.

It was a sin to work on the Sabbath day. Johnny and the Lapham would have been arrested for sure. Instead Mr. Lapham sent out Cilla to go get an old medicine woman to help him. When his hand got better, scar tissue had formed over his thumb rendering his thumb useless. Mr. Lapham told Johnny that he had to find another trade that he could do with a crippled hand. Johnny walked down the wharf looking for a new trade.

When Johnny couldn't find a new job he knew he had to turn to his rich relatives, the Lyte, to help him. When he went into Merchant Lyte's counting house, he asked Mr. Lyte for some help. Merchant Lyte laughed and told him to go away. Johnny said that he had a cup of his to prove that he was part of their family. Johnny went up to their mansion one evening and showed the cup to Merchant Lyte. Merchant told everybody that Johnny had stole that cup from him and that the cup was his all along.

A court hearing went along and Cilla testified that the cup had always been in Johnny's possession. Merchant Lyte was caught in a lie. Johnny found a job as a newspaper deliverer. He met a new friend there named Rab. Rab was the nicest person to Johnny. Johnny and Rab became best of friends.

Johnny had to learn how to ride a horse with a crippled hand if he was to get the job. His new master, Mr. Lorne, was nice and gave Johnny comfortable living quarters and plenty of food. Once Johnny learned how to ride a horse well enough, he started delivering papers to towns like: Dorchester, Cambridge, Lexington, and Charlestown (Charleston). While delivering papers, Johnny learned a lot about the politics and hearsay throughout the colonies. Johnny was liking his life now and his crippled hand didn't bother him much anymore.

During this time, British trade ships had brought over shipments of tea. The tea had a heavy tax on it per pound. The colonists did not agree with the tax and they said that they would not pay it unless that they had equal representation for the colonies in England. It was against the Magna Carta.

A large group of colonists dressed up as Indians and chopped, ripped, and threw out all the tea that was in the cargo holds of three boats. This was known as the Boston Tea Party. Since the colonists did not want the tea to be unloaded and that it was against British law to return these goods, the colonists figured that there was no other way to get rid of the tea. So they threw it off the boats.

About that same time, British troops had begun to encamp in Boston, requiring people to have housing for them. Since the local Whigs knew that the British were up to no good they had Johnny help work as a spy at the Africa Queen (Stable and Restaurant) behind the Observer. When Johnny heard that the British were planning an attack in Lexington, Johnny quickly ran to Paul Revere and told him the news. That was the night of Paul Revere's famous ride. Rab had joined up with the "Minute Men", and went to Lexington to train. Johnny was afraid that Rab had been killed.

Johnny went to go investigate and he dressed up as a British Redcoat. When He got to Charlestown he found Rab bleeding and dying. Johnny knew hundreds of men would die but that was the price of freedom. Rab had died for his freedom and for all American's freedom. Outcome or Conclusion The outcome of the Historical events that took place in this book were the Revolutionary War. The other outcome of the events was the Declaration of Independence and all of America had its freedom.

Position The big thing that I learned from reading Johnny Tremain was what kind of life the colonists really had. I also learned what it was like for the colonists that lived through the war and the opposition of the British. I now know what the real situation was like in Boston, Massachusetts. I think that the American colonists had every right to their freedom.