Freckles is indebted to the Horatio Alger novels. In characters and techniques, it is also akin to popular stage melodramas of the day; and the themes of parental responsibility and proper education of children occur in contemporary domestic dramas and problem plays. Another influence were the local colorists, who directed the attention of writers and readers toward distinctive local settings and characters. Among their successors, James Whitcomb Riley made rural Indiana life a popular subject, and Booth Tarkington added the narrative of childhood experiences.