Kit Kittredge

Kit Kittredge, also known as Margaret Mildred Kittredge, is a fictional character in the American Girl series of books, written by Valerie Tripp.^[3] Kit serves as a protagonist and central character to her sub-series, set during the Great Depression.^[4] Kit's core series of books was written by Valerie Tripp and illustrated by Walter Rane.

Character overview

Kit was born on May 19, 1923 in Cincinnati, Ohio to a well-to-do family, and was named after her mother and her Aunt Millie.^[1] She, however, prefers to go by a nickname given to her by her family, which was taken from both her surname and the song Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag.^[5] Kit's father, Jack, owned a car dealership business in Cincinnati and was a World War I veteran.^[5][6] Her father's business still seemed to do well during the onset of the Great Depression, but was eventually forced to close when Jack used up his savings to pay his employees, sending the Kittredges into poverty.

Kit is first seen in Meet Kit wearing a lavander-pink sweater and cardigan, a floral print skirt and a pair of white canvas sandals. As her family suffered financially during the Great Depression, she was later seen wearing hand-me-downs or used clothing, and at one point during her birthday, her aunt Millie made her a dress from feed sacks, for which she was eventually grateful. Kit is the only historical American Girl to have short hair. To reflect her era, her hair is cut into a bob, although in some illustrations she is shown to be wearing it in a short ponytail or pigtails.

With the launch of American Girl's BeForever revamp, Kit's meet outfit was retconned to that of a bright blue-green sleeveless dress with a white Peter Pan collar, and a flared skirt with floral print.^[7] Kit's old meet outfit was still available for purchase as a separate item for a time before being discontinued.^[8]

Characteristics

Unlike her best friend Ruthie, Kit is a tomboy who cares less about dresses, chores and things that she considers "flouncy". She is more inclined towards baseball (especially Ernie Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds), adventures such as Robin Hood,^[9] country life, and typing up her own news reports, as she dreams of becoming a reporter one day.

Kit hates change, even though at one point she did long for it to happen, and dislikes being dependent on charities, which spurs her fascination with Amelia Earhart. The books also depict her as being stubborn and somewhat fussy, as she finds chores around the house to be rather boring and tedious, though eventually she realizes her family's misfortunes and learns to be more supportive and helpful.

She has a strong sense of pride, but she eventually realizes that she is carried away by it and learns to be humble, and tackle her problems with thrift and cleverness. Kit also tends to be easily embarrassed and irritated, like in Kit Learns a Lesson where she is angered by one of her classmates who teased her for her family's sudden descent into poverty.

Kit is also shown to be close to her father, as depicted in the film, and in the aforementioned part where Kit pushed her classmate for his taunts against her father and family.

Appearances

Main book series

First to third books

Upon hearing about Mrs. Howard and her son Stirling moving in to the Kittredge household while her husband was off to Chicago for work, Kit was excited to have a boy of her age to play with. Her hopes were dashed when she learns about Stirling's poor health, though both shared their enthusiasm for baseball. Excited, Kit rushes to her room and comes back bringing an article about Ernie Lombardi, only to hit Mrs. Howard causing Kit's mother's dishes to break as they flew off the tray. Margaret chastises Kit for her brash behavior. Angered and disappointed, Kit stormed to her room, blaming Stirling for her misfortune. As she was waiting for her father to come in so she could share her article, Charlie came in, explaining how Kit's situation was nothing compared to those who lost their jobs because of the Depression. Kit, while writing of ways for her to help save money, hoped for her Dad to get a job, but this proved futile as Jack often came home in vain.

Kit's mother then comes up with taking in boarders, much to Uncle Hendrick's surprise. Kit wasn't pleased with the idea either, more so as Stirling, whom she initially had a chagrined relationship with, will be staying in her old room, and she has to sleep in the attic. Ruthie assures her about the attic, likening it to Sara Crewe's room in A Little Princess. Kit tearfully relents, and makes the most of her new surroundings as she cleaned and fixed her room, to which her mother praised.

Kit and her family are still adjusting to the changes brought by taking up boarders in their household and the chores involved in it in Kit Learns a Lesson. She is hoping that her father would land a job some day, so much that in an altercation, she was incensed at her classmate Roger's remarks towards her father and her family's financial problems, spoiling the preparations for a Thanksgiving pageant. A trip to the local soup kitchen as part of their punishment made her realize the plight of those surrounding her besides her own family, even more so as her father was one of those in line for lunch.

Film rendition

In the film version, Kit, portrayed by Abigail Breslin, hasn't been radically changed from her original book portrayal; several minor details however were altered in the film, namely her brother Charlie and Aunt Millie as unseen characters and only mentioned in passing, and other changes to her and her relatives' backstory.

In other media

A feature film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was released to theaters on July 2, 2008, starring Abigail Breslin in the title role.^[10][11] Breslin's performance in the film was praised by critics;^[12][13] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote that she "carries the event-stuffed story with unflagging grace".^[14] Several new items were added to Kit's collection to coincide with the film.

Two video games based on her stories were also developed and published, namely Kit Mystery Challenge for the Nintendo DS,^[15] and the point-and-click adventure game A Tree House of My Own for Microsoft Windows platforms.^[16]

Kittredge was also parodied in an episode of the animated comedy show Mad, where she was portrayed as having a daughter who participated in a parody of Toddlers and Tiaras.^[17]

References