Ramona and Her Father

Ramona is seven years old, but she deals with adult issues in Ramona and Her Father. The story takes place during the 1970s economic recession when millions of Americans lost their jobs and had to adapt to make ends meet. Ramona takes on several challenges during this time that are far beyond her years but which prove the true strength of her character and her devotion to her family. Ramona grapples with financial strain and her father’s smoking habit, both of which she faces with bravery and optimism.

Ramona is initially depicted as a happy-go-lucky seven-year-old girl whose biggest concern is what she will get for Christmas (even in September). While Ramona does have this side to her personality, her silliness and constant jovial demeanor start to get on her family’s nerves after Mr. Quimby is laid off. The mood in the household is sullen, and Ramona seems to be the only one who manages to keep smiling. She longs for a time when her father was fun, when her mother didn’t have to work or worry so much, and when her sister was less irritable. Ramona takes on the burden of her family’s emotional turmoil and regularly observes their moods. She even worries about the cat, who also seems to be less happy lately. Mr. Quimby’s mood is the darkest of all, and Ramona hopes that she can help by finding a way to earn money. It turns out that Ramona isn’t quite ready for such a responsibility, and she learns this the hard way when she makes a crown that takes hours to untangle from her hair.

Ramona experiences a disconnect between her own worries and communicating these to her parents because she is young and still lacks the understanding of how to express them. She becomes frustrated when her parents assume she is only worried about the pumpkin or her Christmas list: “Didn’t grown-ups think children worried about anything but jack-o-lanterns? Didn’t they know children worried about grown-ups?” (71). Her parents’ assumption harms Ramona because she starts to feel misunderstood and unseen. Her attempts to help her father quit smoking are initially laughed at as well. It is not until Ramona breaks down and can take no more that her father finally starts to understand the reality his child is experiencing. Thus, Ramona does inspire her father to quit smoking, just not in the way she expected. Ramona also demonstrates maturity when she talks herself out of her stubbornness on the night of the Christmas play and decides to be grateful for what she does have instead of being angry about what she is lacking. Because Ramona is reaching an age where she is beginning to understand the reality of the world around her, the story becomes an exploration of this important and difficult time in children’s lives.