Matilda is a 14-year-old girl living in Philadelphia in 1793, who considers herself an independent “Daughter of Liberty” (12) who wants to grow up to “steer [her] own ship” (12). The collective tragedy and upheaval of the yellow fever epidemic forces Matilda to grow up faster than she would have otherwise. Within four months, Matilda transforms from an unsure, sometimes irresponsible child to a confident and capable adult.

In the opening chapters of the novel, Anderson emphasizes Matilda’s constant desire to escape, both on a larger scale (the “ropes that h[old]” her (5)), and on a smaller level (the drudgeries of her daily life). Matilda wants to grow and transform, but she also runs from responsibility, both in dreams and reality. In her fantasies, she imagines traveling to France and running an “entire city block” (12) of businesses, without considering all the hard work and sacrifice required to achieve this dream. In reality, she looks for any excuse to go into town rather than completing the necessary chores at home. Once the yellow fever begins to touch her personally, and her mother falls ill, Matilda still reacts like a child: she “blubber[s] like a baby” (89) and begs ineffectually to be allowed to stay with her mother, but ultimately acquiesces to the adults’ demands that she leave for the countryside.