in which ma is afraid
In its last chapter, Little House in the Big Woods comes full circle to close the story. The cows are brought into the barn to be fed; the attic is full of good things to eat; and Jack Frost once again drops by at night. There's been no fresh meat in the house since spring, so it's time for Pa to go hunting, but Laura and Mary won't be waking up to see any dead deer hanging in the trees this time.

What the heck is wrong with Pa? He watches a deer and doesn't shoot. He watches a bear and doesn't shoot. He watches another deer and forgets that he has his gun, so he doesn't shoot. Seriously, that man would forget his penis* if it wasn't attached.

Yes, I know the picture Laura paints is one of cosy firelight and contentment; I've felt it, too. But I've also read the series too many times to be fooled for long. I know that Little House on the Prairie begins with too many people and too few animals for Pa. And so they leave the Big Woods forever.

In a story edited out of the Big Woods manuscript prior to publication, Laura tells us that when Pa went to town to buy the winter provisions, he was again late coming home, so Ma pulls in the latch-string to wait. As she sat sewing by the fire-light, she hears a fumbling at the door; someone is trying to get it!

After a few minutes, someone knocks but doesn't speak. Ma sits quietly, not breathing. And then the noise is at the window, and there is a face peering in. It's a rough looking man who says, "I see you are alone. Let us in. We won't hurt you." His voice is gruff, but Ma's no dummy. Ma says nothing, Jack growls angrily, and the face disappears. For some time, the men stand talking under the window, but eventually the voices go away.

When Pa finally comes home, Ma makes him talk to her before she would open the door. Pa says the men were likely from a river gang that had gone up the river, but he didn't expect them to be so far inland.

Ma wasn't afraid of bears or wolves or wild hogs. But Ma had been afraid tonight. Laura knew for she had seen Ma's face in the lamplight.

Maybe Ma should have given the men cornbread. It worked in Indian Territory. And now we know why she always insists on curtains, even in the Surveyors' House when the nearest neighbor is forty miles away. Perhaps this is even the reason Pa has both a gun and a pistol in Indian Territory; Pa may be stupid enough to find himself without his gun on occasion, but Ma never will!

[*If you are reading this blog aloud, feel free to substitute the word "beard". Romines may be offended, but your delicate ears will not.]

Permalink: http://www.pioneergirl.com/blog/archives/983
- posted by pioneergirl at 12:01 AM