From the beginning A Green Satin Gown by Laura Richards is easily relatable to today’s youth. The story begins in present time, but is quickly whisked back in time as an elder shares a story of her past with a seventeen year old girl. The relationship between the older generation and the younger is vital and often consists of the exchanging of stories from times long ago. Almost all of today’s youth can remember an experience where they were told stories of a friend or family member past. A Green Satin Gown is linked to modern youth due to the relatable connection that is established between the younger narrator and the older Madam Le Baron, the imaginative story-telling format, the mystery surrounding Madam Le Baron and use of sensory details that bring the story to life.
The story-telling format of the writing transports the reader into a different time and place. This incorporates a great deal of imagination, which is deeply rooted in youth. A youthful person has a mind that is mostly untainted by the realities of society, which allows for a great amount of creativity and imagination that can be associated with traveling through a story. In addition the narrator says, “I had walked into a fairy tale, or else I was dreaming!” This imagery of a fairy tale most youth can instantly connect with, through their own personal experiences of the imagination.
The story-telling format of the writing transports the reader into a different time and place. This incorporates a great deal of imagination, which is deeply rooted in youth. A youthful person has a mind that is mostly untainted by the realities of society, which allows for a great amount of creativity and imagination that can be associated with traveling through a story. In addition the narrator says, “I had walked into a fairy tale, or else I was dreaming!” This imagery of a fairy tale most youth can instantly connect with, through their own personal experiences of the imagination.
Younger individuals often perceive adults as mysterious and as if they are in a whole different world. The young girl and Miss Persis gaze at the house of Madam Le Baron everyday and the girl even imagines what Madam Le Baron looks like, “[she] could not help picturing to [her]self the great lady as about six feet tall, clad in purple velvet, and waving a peacock-feather fan”. One day Madam Le Baron has Miss Persis come pick up the young girl, but she doesn’t tell her why she needs her and appears to be a very secretive person. Madam Le Baron lives in a beautiful mansion with maids, which further exaggerates the contrast between her and the young girl. Adolescent readers are able to relate to the feelings surrounding the contrasting world of adults.
Throughout the story specific sensory details that youth can attach to are repeated. Phrases such as, “breathless”, “pink with excitement”, “cool, dimly lighted parlor”, and “there was a soft rustle, a smell of sandal-wood in the air” all include observations from sight, hearing, smelling and touching that youth often use to identify their own experiences. For youthful individuals many experiences are new, and a reaction to this is to take in all of the small details in order to encompass the full vision and experience that is being encountered. The authors use of these sensory details make the story directly relatable and understandable to modern young adults.
A Green Satin Gown is a story that youth living in the modern world can relate to due to the link between older and younger, story-telling format, the mystery built up around Madame Le Baron, and the sensory details used throughout the story. The link between the teller of the story and the younger girl is a relationship that most youth can relate to. The story transports the reader into a different world, which is easy for an imaginative youth to understand and follow. The mystery built up about Madame Le Baron sparks curiosity that adolescence often feel concerning adult figures in their lives. The repetition of sensory details pulls adolescent readers into the story and suddenly their imaginations transport them into another world.
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