Violet chooses her path and suggests being sent on the orphan train. "She wanted what her mother
could never give her." Do you think she made the right decision? How would her life have been
different?

I believe Violet did make the right choice. For her, fear of the unknown was better that the fear she had of staying with her mother.

I think Violet made the right decision because the alternative was something she knew she did not want; either returning to the orphanage or going back with her mother. She was already aware of what these two options meant and I think she wisely chose the train.

I agree that Violet made the right decision to go on the orphan train. Had she stayed in New York, it's likely that she would have ended up either in a brothel or a jail (probably both at different times in her life). That's assuming, of course, that she survived life on the streets. I think she realized that it was a bigger risk to stay than to go. She gave up the certainty of a hard life on the streets for the hope of a better life.

I think that Violet made the only decision she could. She recognized that her mother was addicted to opium and that she always put her man of the moment ahead of her daughter. I would like to think that there is some alternative story where she had a good, positive life in NYC, but really it would probably turn out like the character in Elizabeth Gaffney's "Metropolis" who joined one of the gangs and became a pick pocket.

Violet made the right decision to go on the orphan train. If she had stayed in New York, I'm afraid she wouldn't have lived to be an adult. Her Mother certainly couldn't take care of her.

I also think she made the right decision. Though her destination was not all she might have dreamed of she did not have to worry about food or shelter or threats to her life which is surely what was and would have continued to be the reality of her like in NYC.

Definitely. Her life was only going to get worse and her mother would have kept coming and going in her life. Joycew

I don't think Violet saw any other choices. However, I think her personality and her ability to adapt doesn't mean she wouldn't have survived in New York. I think she would have. It turned out okay for her but I wished she could have kept her mother's picture. I don't think it was right for them to totally cut the children off.

Yes I believe that she did make the correct decision to go on the train. At that time none of her many options, all seemed like bad news, met her needs. Hope for something better kept both Violet and her mother searching.
I agree with Navy Mom I also wished that she was able to keep her mothers picture.

Yes, it was a matter of survival!!

Yes, I do think that Violet made the correct decision to leave her mother and get on the train. She was mature and aware enough to realize that her mother had problems and could not take care of her.

Yes I think she made the right decision. She missed her mom but her life turned out much differently than it would have if she had stayed in NY

Yes, she didn't have much of a life to look forward to in NYC

Violet is a very brave little girl, she realized her mother would not protect her, she was already going hungry, the trains were an unknown opportunity of a better future she hoped.

Absolutely! I don't think she had any hope of a future in NYC, without some serious intervention in her life, and I'm afraid that she would have continued to be disappointed by her mother over and over again because of all of her mother's issues.
I think that she made the only choice she could.

Definitely! She was a smart little girl for the most part, she knew there was no good future for her if she tried to stay with her mother. It's amazing how a bad parent can turn a child into an amazing person sometimes. I think Violet did the best she could have with how her life began.

Yes, I feel that she made the right decision. She was young, had no one guiding her and I feel felt that she knew her current surroundings. Getting on the orphan train at least gave her a possibility.

Although a very difficult decision for a young child to face, she was smart enough to know that there had to be a better life "out there". Sad as it was she knew her mother was not in any position to truly care for her, at least physically, and perhaps emotionally...she knew the train was the only way out of the city and what it would mean if she stayed.

I believe she made the right choice for her. She was willing to take a risk. She knew her life in NYC wasn't going to be good so she took the chance that perhaps it would be better elsewhere -- after all, how much worse could it be? I do think Violet was a strong little girl though and would have found a way to survive wherever she was.