![]() ![]() So, in a roundabout way, Johnny Tremain is partly about the importance of workman's comp laws. But that's okay because Forbes makes it clear that England is not the real enemy-the real enemy is any government that threatens the liberty of its people or just doesn't stand up for them. What's interesting is that Esther Forbes published Johnny Tremain in 1943, when the United States was in the middle of World War II, in which the United States and the United Kingdom (yet another way to refer to Great Britain) were allies. Technically, it's Great Britain, but they call it England throughout the book.) And neither do America's Founding Fathers, many of whom play very visible roles in Johnny's new life as rider, punch stirrer, tea chest chopper, and secret messenger for a group of Bostonians who are all about rebelling against the Mother Country. What is easy is starving to death-no workman's comp laws, remember? Shmoop doesn't go for lying down and admitting defeat, and neither does our pal Johnny. ![]() But in Boston in 1773-1775, that's not so easy. So what's a silversmith who can't make silver stuff anymore to do? Find a new job, of course. ![]() It's like when Viserys gets molten gold poured on his head in A Game of Thrones, but with less royal infighting and more workplace injury. To give Esther Forbes credit, it's a memorable image. Ask anyone who read Johnny Tremain several decades ago, and we guarantee they'll remember one thing: it's about an apprentice silversmith in Colonial Boston who burns his hand really, really badly on molten silver. ![]()
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