Guest post by Patty Collins
Following a pleasant weekend at home, Laura’s spirits were up and she was ready to face the week anew. After all, it was only seven weeks more and she would be home again, walking to school with Carrie. Pa’s advice to keep a stiff upper lip helped reassure her too.
The new week looked promising. This was not to be. The weather turned dull and gloomy and so did Laura’s spirits. Little could be done to improve the mood in the Brewster home and things went from bad to worse at her school.
Laura returned to the Brewster’s where it seemed to her that Mrs. Brewster had practically given up. The poor woman didn’t (or couldn’t) do more than make a simple meal of salt pork and potatoes twice a day. Laura was appalled that even the most ordinary tasks went without thought. Mrs. Brewster had let the housework go and “she did not make the bed nor even spread it up.” She quarreled at her husband, little Johnny fussed, and Mr. Brewster just sat.
Up to this point, Laura had faced uncomfortable situations and hardships many times before. Laura worked with her parents to conquer difficult times. Never before was Laura expected to face these challenges alone. No reassuring words from Ma, no fiddle music to play her to sleep, no sister to snuggle next to. Laura was alone and, for all intents and purposes, a grown up.
The Ingalls family had somehow managed to be cheerful and work together through sickness on Plum Creek, Mary’s blindness, and even the hard winter. These difficulties only seemed to bring her family closer.
This life away from home was uncharted territory for Laura. She did not understand how Mrs. Brewster could be terminally unhappy, nor did she understand how her husband cared little about anything. Her own parents talked with each other, made decisions together, and obviously respected and appreciated one another. The Brewsters were the polar opposite of her beloved parents.
Laura was dismayed that there was little she could do to better the situation. “Her head ached as she went toward Mrs. Brewster’s hateful house.” She realized then that she must just get through the miserable week one day at a time.
At school, her students quarreled with one another. They misbehaved and did not know their lessons. Laura did not have the energy to keep up with her own lessons and worried that she would be behind her classmates when she returned to school herself. It all seemed too much.
Although this short chapter appears plagued with failure, it is a turning point for Laura’s teaching career. As all the great teacher movies have shown us, a tough week and a tough class brings out the best in any instructor. (Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds, Mr. Holland’s Opus)
Through all of her classroom problems, she wondered if this must have been how Miss Wilder felt when she had taught her school. It makes one wonder if Eliza Jane didn’t wish for Laura to help her with the other pupils in the same way Laura wished for Clarence to help make Tommy and Ruby mind. Laura believed in her heart that Clarence really was a good boy. She knew he was much brighter than his recitations showed.
Laura and Clarence are remarkably similar in the two situations. They are both well-liked by their peers and seen as leaders by other students. Both smart as a whip and quick thinking, but also quick to action. No doubt Laura saw some of herself in Clarence, and her expectations went along accordingly.
The days moved slowly, but Laura was ever hopeful that things would be better tomorrow. Friday was quiet and dull. She and her pupils were simply going through the motions. After lunch, the clouds began to lift and the afternoon grew bright. Like the little girl who brought in the entire wood pile many years before on Plum Creek, Laura had again tackled a problem and the week was nearly over.
The mood lightened more when once again, she heard sleigh bells. Almanzo had returned for the second week in a row! As she gathered her things, she heard Clarence shout, “Teacher’s beau’s here!” Later as the horses trotted swiftly leaving behind the awful week, Laura wondered what Almanzo must be thinking. She thought it best to say nothing of Clarence. “Laura decided; as Ma would say, ‘Least said, soonest mended.”
I love when she pulls the knife out of the desk and clicks it shut in her fist. That’s gangsta!!! She showed those kids (most older than her) that she’s not one to be messed around with.
Good summary.
I’ll bring this up again when I get to my own next chapter, but you have to wonder how hard it must’ve been to cope with the sheer BOREDOM of life those days. The Brewsters ‘just sat.’ Even when Ms. Brewster did the housework, how long could it have taken to sweep 2 tiny rooms and spread up the bed? School at that time was mostly spent sitting on a hard bench memorizing long lists of spelling words. Even for Laura at home, where there were pleasant people to talk to, they must’ve eventually run out of things to talk about. (How many times can you get excited about the fact tha Kitty caught 3 gophers…) If Laura wanted to read she could study her history book or read Tennyson’s poems or Millbank… (We never see her reading a newspaper, even at home.) And, of course, much of the population, even in the 1880′s wasn’t literate, or had no books at all. (We certainly never get the impression that ANY of the three families at Brewster’s Settlement reads for pleasure.) So different from today where we have constant access to endless information and different people to chat with. In my house I have THOUSANDS of books (not exaggerating), music, 70+ tv channels, a few hundred DVDs .. and sometimes I get bored.
Such a different world.
For boredom – I noted in the Little Town read along that Laura is starring at the wall pondering the War of 1812 – there’s only so long that! can be interesting.
Clarence joins Ida, Mary, Pa and Ma thinking that Almanzo is trying to be Laura’s beau. When will Laura figure it out?
As I’m reading this summary, I’m thinking of the editor/co-author of this book. Rose was no stranger to feeling depressed, but there’s no sympathy for Mrs. Brewster. She’s either angry, moody, crazy or lazy. You might expect someone who has experienced the same feelings would explain the feelings a little bit. Mrs. McKee, later, wasn’t thrilled to be babysitting a claim, but the picture of her is much different.
Though a good author WILL try to keep her thoughts firmly in the head of her character, not herself. And Laura (at least fictional Laura) has lived all her life in a home where people DON’T show negative feelings … where what can’t be cured must be endured … where you cut your coat to fit the cloth …. and where, no matter how rough things are, you DON’T sit and brood, but you stand up and recite “Tubal Caine” and go twist another hay stick. So she probably doesn’t understand a woman like Mrs. Brewster.
(And as for thinking about the War of 1812 — that again had to with how school worked. She was memorizing facts, silently repeating them to herself so the next day when she went to school and Miss Wilder (or whoever was teaching in that chapter) drilled her on Generals and dates, she could easily dredge up the relevent data.)
Research has shown that Mr & Mrs Brewster (real name Bouchie) had not been married that long, and Johnny was Mrs Brewster’s son from her earlier marriage. I think Mr Brewster might have known Mr Boast out east before he married this woman. She seems to be suffering from a deep depression, and they both might be thinking that this marriage was a mistake.
Anyway, they make such a contrast to the Ingalls family we have come to know and love. Laura is coping by focusing on her schoolwork, with the thought that with Friday comes sleigh bells and a weekend home. Many of us in the modern day have to endure some hard weeks of work to get to the weekend, too, keeping a stiff upper lip!
Here is the link to the info about the Bouchie’s.(Brewsters)http://frontiergirl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=hgy&action=display&thread=552
See posting #4.
I think I’ve said this before somewhere – my feelings have changed towards Mrs Brewster since I first read this, and I feel very sorry for her. Daniel, I totally agree this is a situation a modern reader can relate to with a bad work situation and just wanting the week to be over in the hope next week will be better!