Little Lord Fauntleroy

“His greatest charm was this cheerful, fearless, quaint little way of making friends with people. I think it arose from his having a very confiding nature, and a kind little heart that sympathized with every one, and wished to make every one as comfortable as he liked to be himself. It made him very quick to understand the feelings of those about him.”

Cedric’s ability to empathize and put people at ease are the two key facets of his nobility, the two things that distinguish him most from his grandfather. These abilities hint at what’s most important in life: relationships. Being with other people and understanding what they’re feeling is the key to feeling connected and fulfilled, something Dorincourt has yet to realize.

“‘Oh! Dearest!’ he said, ‘I should rather not be an earl. None of the boys are earls. Can’t I not be one?’”

Cedric doesn’t want to be special. In this rare instance, he shows a desire to be like other children, who are largely absent from the rest of the novel. Despite being extraordinary, Cedric doesn’t think of himself in this way, just wanting to fit in with his peers. This is a common trope: the extraordinary hero who wants to be normal, but is called on to execute a daunting duty. In doing so, they manifest their extraordinary nature.

“Mr. Hobbs seemed to grow hotter and hotter. He mopped his forehead and his bald spot and breathed hard. He began to see that something very remarkable had happened; but when he looked at the little boy sitting on the cracker-box, with the innocent, anxious expression in his childish eyes, and saw that he was not changed at all, but was simply as he had been the day before, just a handsome, cheerful, brave little fellow in a blue suit and red neck-ribbon, all this information about the nobility bewildered him. He was all the more bewildered because Cedric gave it with such ingenuous simplicity, and plainly without realizing himself how stupendous it was.”

This is a crucial moment for both Cedric and Mr. Hobbs as both deal with the news that Cedric is a lord. Mr. Hobbs’s perspective shows that the lordship doesn’t change Cedric—he still looks like the same little boy. His perspective also highlights Cedric’s innocence and naivete—Cedric, being so young, doesn’t realize how extraordinary the news is.