Elsie Dinsmore
The Elsie Dinsmore series has the misfortune of being recommended widely throughout the Christian home-schooling community. At first glance, the stories are charming and strongly uphold Christian character. However, Martha Finley does not demonstrate Christianity accurately or appealingly. Elsie rarely sins, and the few sins she has are not addressed well. In addition, her primary temptation is not considered a sin by the majority of Christians today.
Elsie has almost no faults, although she repents of several throughout the series. Her faults mostly consist of thoughts or feelings that last no more than a few seconds before she implodes into days of tears and repentance. While many girls raised in Christian homes may find that their faults are primarily within their heads and hearts, the author could have helped such readers by making these faults more explicit, or more realistically long-lasting. Also, giving Elsie the comfort of the cross and the Holy Spirit earlier in her repentance would be advantageous not only to her own fictitious soul, but also to the souls of girls encouraged to emulate her.
Her other sins seem accidental. Though I don’t claim to know the hearts of other readers, I am willful sinner. Elsie’s example discourages my will to obey by showing how impossible true obedience is, instead of the intended effect of encouraging by her example.
In addition, much of the plot of the first two books surrounds a “sin” that is no sin. Elsie is commanded on several occasions to play on Sunday, which she considers a mortal sin. She refuses, courageously enduring peril to her health. Again, because this is not considered sinful by many orthodox interpretations of scripture, her courage seems wasted. In sum, the books do little to encourage young saints in their process of sanctification, despite their technical adherence to orthodoxy.
