History Recap / ArthurS3E12WhatScaredSueEllenClarissaIsCracked

* DeliberateValuesDissonance:

* AnAesop:
** There will be things that frighten you, but if you take the proper preparations to deal with it, you'll be able to conquer your fears. Sue Ellen follows her parents' advice on how they conquered their fear of climbing to reach a summit, and rallies the boys to confront the source of the noise.
** Don't mock somebody's stories or interests just because they didn't resonate with you, as they will find little reason to be interested in yours. Sue Ellen puts down the group's scary stories because they're not real and she had more fun having adventures around the world, and Arthur points out that she can't expect them to take her scary stories seriously after she mocked theirs.

* {{Foil}}: While Thora and D.W. had a lot in common while they were the same age, they were shaped by their time periods. Thora was told that because she was a little girl, she was not expected to be careful with her things, so she painstakingly did what she could to make sure Clarissa stayed pristine. Even so, Thora as a grandmother says that there were times when Clarissa got broken and needed fixing. D.W. is a little more careless because she takes Clarissa for granted, and doesn't understand that she is fragile. She also has more toys in her room, because her parents were able to afford them, they're more patient with D.W.'s roughhousing, and the toys are more durable.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Clarissa manages to be fixed before D.W. has to give her back to Grandma Thora, but D.W. still feels guilty and confesses to Thora that she broke Clarissa. She expects Thora to be angry at her for not being more careful, but Thora takes it in stride, saying that Clarissa has been cracked more than once since she's had the doll for such a long time.

* CallBack: During a montage of D.W. spending time with Clarissa, we see all sorts of examples that she doesn't know how to properly care for a porcelain doll, such as letting friends hold the doll despite having dirty hands, or going down a slide too roughly. Later, during the flashback to when Thora got Clarissa for her birthday, she's seen doing all the same activities D.W. did, but being more careful with her, like making sure someone's hands were clean before holding the doll or going down a slide more carefully. This is meant to drive home the point for D.W. how important Clarissa was to her grandmother, helping her [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize]] she'd been taking her for granted.

* CoolBigBro: For what it's worth, Thora's three older brothers would give their old toys to her and refashion them into items more suitable for girls. She didn't appreciate it at the time but told her mother she wanted a toy of her own and didn't blame them.

** Toys were a lot more fragile when Thora was a little girl, so most of Thora's toys were hand-me-downs from her brothers or handmade. She's given a brand new toy only when she turns a certain age, and it's impressed that she has to take good care of Clarissa.
** It's also noted that young Thora would often go to the toy store on her own with her parent's permission, which surprises D.W. that this was allowed when she was at such an early age--Mr. and Mrs. Read explain that Elwood City was a lot smaller back when Thora was a kid, so everyone was more familiar with one another rather than being total strangers (as shown when an elderly woman and a traffic cop help Thora cross the road, and both of them know her by name).
* DoubleStandard: Thora was given less toys, compared to her three older brothers, because she's younger, and a girl, and was expected to not take care of them. She does protest this, though her brothers try to help by fashioning new toys for her out of theirs or out of household objects.

* TheGreatDepression: The flashbacks to Thora's childhood are implied to take place during this period. The town was smaller and even more tight-knit, a girl Thora's age could walk around by herself, the boys had knee length shorts instead of pants with long socks, the men had bow ties, all the adults wore hats out, the women had bobbed or CompressedHair, the mention of how Thora's family didn't have a lot of money to get her toys, and a older woman and a traffic cop complain about [[FauxHorrific "the noise'']] caused by a zeppelin flying over town.
* {{Foil}}: While Thora and D.W. had a lot in common while they were the same age, they were shaped by their time periods. Thora was told that because she was a girl she was not expected to be careful with her things, so she painstakingly did what she could to make sure Clarissa stayed pristine. Even so, Thora as a grandmother says that there were times when Clarissa got broken and needed fixing. D.W. is a little more careless because she takes Clarissa for granted, and doesn't understand that she is fragile. She also has more toys in her room, because her parents were able to afford them, and they're more patient with her roughhousing.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: While at first D.W. doesn't understand why breaking Clarissa is a big deal, she goes through this after her parents explain how much Clarissa meant to Thora. Realizing she's been far rougher with the doll compared to Thora, she agrees that Clarissa needs to be fixed.

** Toys were a lot more fragile in those days, so most of Thora's toys were hand-me-downs from her brothers or handmade. She's given a brand new toy only when she turns a certain age, and it's impressed that she has to take good care of Clarissa.

* AdultFear: It turns out Mrs. Wood's dog Perky was lost in the woods for days and trapped under a fallen tree. Mrs. Wood thanks the group for finding her dog and getting help.

* ChekhovsGunman: Mr. Ratburn, who's seen putting on a puppet show at the library earlier in the episode. When Arthur's parents can't find anyone who can fix Clarissa, Arthur remembers that Mr. Ratburn works with puppets, and goes with D.W. to ask if he can fix the doll. Mr. Ratburn does, at no charge.

* EasilyForgiven: Thora forgives D.W. when the latter confesses about what happened to Clarissa, since she appreciates that D.W. also got her fixed and it isn't the first time Clarissa has been broken.

* ShoutOut: Binky is telling an urban legend about a hook-handed killer. Arthur says he read it as well; the story was collected in ''Literature/ScaryStoriesToTellInTheDark''.

* ChekhovsGunman: Mr. Ratburn. Arthur remembers that Mr. Ratburn works with puppets, and he was earlier putting on a show at the library, and goes to ask if he can fix Clarissa. Mr. Ratburn does, at no charge.

* CallBack: During a montage of D.W. spending time with Clarissa, we see all sorts of examples that she doesn't know how to properly care for a porcelain doll, such as letting friends hold the doll despite having dirty hands, or going down a slide too roughly. Later, after Thora gets Clarissa for her birthday, she's seen doing all the same activities D.W. did, but being more careful with her, like making sure someone's hands were clean before holding the doll or going down a slide more carefully. This is meant to drive home the point for D.W. how important Clarissa was to her grandmother, helping her [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize]] she'd been taking her for granted.

--->'''D.W.''': Grandma kept Clarissa perfect her whole life, and I wrecked her! What am I going to do?

* NotSoDifferentRemark: When D.W. bemoans that she's not worthy of Clarissa the way her grandmother is, Thora comforts that even ''she'' accidentally broke Clarissa from time to time. If anything, she sees that D.W. is [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre just as capable]] of keeping Clarissa in good shape as she was when she was her granddaughter's age.