Summary

One time, Emily lends Perry a book about Abraham Lincoln, much to his delight since it’s his dream to become a president as well. Perry brings this book home, where he lives with Aunt Tom, and continues to read it until nighttime falls. Aunt Tom scolds him for thinking about studying, believing that education is only meant for affluent people, and tells him that poor people like them should rather concentrate on working instead.

Perry however remains fervent in his desire to study and continues reading the book despite his aunt’s disapproval. Abraham Lincoln then served as Perry’s inspiration as he learns about how he continued studying despite not being privileged to study in a formal school, and eventually became the president of the United States.

Emily’s class is having a speech contest in their school where they are to share about their dreams, and decides to convince Perry to take part in it after seeing the potential he has, especially with his great ambition. Perry however refuses to join the contest since his Aunt Tom will never approve it, making both Ilse and Emily do the convincing in his behalf.

Aunt Tom isn’t an easy person to convince, especially with her doubt that an irresponsible person like Perry can both work and have time to spare for making his speech. Perry couldn’t bear the thought of how her aunt looks down on his capabilities, and then declares that he will join the contest despite her disapproval and see to it that he can win.

Perry is determined to live up to what he said about becoming the winner, and makes time for his speech despite his work. The day before the contest however, a storm approaches New Moon, making Perry work until late that night in order to fix the repairs in the Murray’s house. Aunt Tom is already getting worried about Perry who still hasn’t come home, and decides to find him amidst the stormy weather. By the time Perry arrives, he finds his aunt already ill because of what she did earlier, and decides to take care of her instead of attending the speech contest.

The contest ends with Emily as the winner, but believes that the rightful person for this title is no one else but Perry. Aunt Tom was touched by Perry’s sacrifice and sees just how much he matured throughout the years, and finally allows him to study.

Thoughts

It’s great to have finally seen Perry’s family background, and I certainly didn’t expect him to have grown up with a peculiar old woman in the person of Aunt Tom. The first time I saw her, I thought she was the witch from some fairy tale story (like the witch in Snow White) ^^:; Glad to see that she turned out a much better person than I first thought. This just goes to show how we should never judge a book by its own cover…

Perry was trained to be independent because he was like the breadwinner of their family. Aunt Tom was merely being practical in believing that studying is useless for them, but was keen to realize that Perry has long wanted to study. I believe she was just trying to prove Perry’s resolve by saying those words, and finally sees how he has matured now that he’s able to stand on his own feet and decide for himself, to the point of even going against her.

When Perry first mentioned about wanting to become a president, I first thought it was a farfetched dream, considering the barrier of illiteracy he has to surpass despite his diplomatic character (first impression). But with what he has shown throughout the series especially in this episode, we can see just how determined he is to pursue this dream of his, and he’s been making a lot of progress in terms of becoming an overall well-educated person. I’ve come to admire Perry as I’ve seen this determination and conviction he has, while not losing sight on the things he should be focus on at the same time. He studies on his own almost everyday, yet he still does his work to the best he can, not allowing to leave any unfinished work.

That scene with Perry sacrificing the contest for the sake of taking care of his sick aunt really touched me… Aunt Tom even cried at how mature Perry handled the situation, else if he was a brat he could’ve just left her aunt and prioritize the speech contest. But no, he cares deeply for his aunt despite being against her idea of education being useless for them. He was faced with the decision to choose between being one step closer to his dream, or look back and repay the kindness of the one who took care of him all this time, and of course he chose the latter option, which is but right in my opinion.