Explain the critical appreciation of ‘Angel in Disguise’.
The story An Angel in Disguise is written by T.S. Arthur. The story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator through which Arthur may be exploring the theme of kindness. For example when he tells the readers about the drunken women and her children he is both in agony for the children and angry at the women for her not so admirable life that she led. The narrator demonstrates his tender feelings for Maggi when he described her as a soul having sad eyes and the patient face. Maggie is ostracized by others based solely on her physical disabilities. Both Joe and Jane take Maggie into their home though she is crippled and pitied by others. Nobody else is prepared to do it and it is noticeable that Maggie brings a change in Jane’s life. No longer is she as cold as she had been despite initially wanting to see Maggie go to the poorhouse. It is as though Maggie is filling a void in Jane’s (and Joe’s) life with them having no children of their own.
Though she does have other attributes that will be of benefit to her. She is a grateful and appreciative child. Something that is clear to the reader while she is staying in Jane and Joe’s home. It is for this reason that the normally icy Jane most likely melts and falls in love with Maggie. She sees in Maggie what others refuse to see. As too does Joe who cannot abandon Maggie though initially Jane had instructed him to do so. A young crippled girl who has so much love to offer that it may possibly overwhelm Jane due to the attachment that Jane develops when it comes to looking after Maggie. From the tragedy of losing her mother. Maggie has found a new mother who will love and take care of her as if she was her own child. If anything the future looks brighter for not only Maggie but for Jane and Joe too. They are a family now even if others might think that Maggie should still be sent to the poorhouse because she is of no benefit to others. Fortunately this is not how Jane and Joe view Maggie. Rather she is someone who has brought joy into their lives when they may have never thought it was possible.