Who Would have thought it? #1

While it was hard to get into the spirit of this book in the beginning, it's definitely starting to get more interesting the more I read. The thing that struck me the most of all in the early pages was the ambivalent feelings I had towards the arrival of the little black girl. While the words coming out of the mouths of the Norval girls were appalling, they are no different from things we hear today in society. The only difference was how acceptable it was to bash others just because of the colour of their skin. Nowadays I believe such comments would receive a much harsher reaction from others.
Another thing that struck me was how unresponsive the family was to the arrival of Mr. Norval. Having been gone for 4 years, I would have thought his family would be a little more excited to see him. On the other hand, Mr. Norval was not much different. What kind of family values did this family have, and is this a reflection of the times represented in this tale?
As the story goes on, I'm curious to see what other sort of commotion is caused by the presence of the little girl, and how she is to be integrated not only with her new family but with all those that come across her in the book.
Living in Canada, which is such a multicultural country, I believe we have somewhat of a different approach to having people of so many cultures and origins living together. We are more accepting of immigrants, as many us us are just that. Once in a high school socials studies class we were told to raise our hands progressively to inform the class if we were first, second, third generation Canadians and so forth. Not one person had had their great grandparents born in Canada. Due to this, I'm inclined to think that if a little black girl came into our lives, we would act differently than the Norval family.