The dream in the story likely reveals Cora’s feelings of guilt. The text indicates a close relationship between Cora and Ruky, with Cora taking on the roles of both mother and sister. As Ruky is still very young and they are orphans, Cora may carry feelings of responsibility and guilt about their circumstances. This interpretation aligns with the deeper emotional themes surrounding their orphanhood and Cora's protective role over her younger brother.
The Crow-Child
by Mary Mapes Dodge
Midway between a certain blue lake and a deep forest there once stood a cottage, called by its owner “The Rookery.”
The forest shut out the sunlight and scowled upon the ground, breaking with shadows every ray that fell, until only a few little pieces lay scattered about. But the broad lake invited all the rays to come and rest upon her, so that sometimes she shone from shore to shore, and the sun winked and blinked above her, as though dazzled by his own reflection. The cottage, which was very small, had sunny windows and dark windows. Only from the roof could you see the mountains beyond, where the light crept up in the morning and down in the evening, turning all the brooks into living silver as it passed.
But something brighter than sunshine used often to look from the cottage into the forest, and something even more gloomy than shadows often glowered from its windows upon the sunny lake. One was the face of little Ruky Lynn; and the other was his sister’s when she felt angry or ill-tempered.
They were orphans, Cora and Ruky, living alone in the cottage with an old uncle. Cora—or “Cor,” as Ruky called her—was nearly sixteen years old, but her brother had seen the forest turn yellow only four times. She was, therefore, almost mother and sister in one. The little fellow was her companion night and day. Together they ate and slept, and—when Cora was not at work in the cottage—together they rambled in the wood, or floated in their little skiff upon the lake.
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Question
Use the story to answer the question.
What does the dream in the story reveal?
(1 point)
Responses
Roky’s magical abilities
Roky’s magical abilities
Cora’s greatest challenge
Cora’s greatest challenge
Roky’s feelings of abandonment
Roky’s feelings of abandonment
Cora’s feelings of guilt
1 answer