Laura: The Little Half-Pint of Sweet Cider Half Drunk Up

‘Its a sugar snow,’ he said. Laura put her tongue quickly to a little bit of the white snow that lay in a fold of his sleeve. It was nothing but wet on her tongue, like any snow 1971:119. She licks a little snow because the snow is named sugar snow. She thinks the taste will be special but it is not. As it is showed in Laura’s thought that it is just wet like any snow. Other evidence is found when Laura goes to the town with her family. Since it is her first time to go to the store, Laura is surprised that there are many things which can be found in the store. In the novel, it is described that “Laura could have looked for weeks and not seen all the things that were in that store. She had not known there were so many things in the world” 1971:170. The innocent thought also makes her becomes very stunned at the store. Her word “in the world” also shows her admiration. The naïvety of Laura also can be seen by her thought, when Charley, her cousin, lies to his father and Laura’s Pa by pretending something bad happened to him. However, badly he is stung by the bees. Laura is confused why Pa calls Charley as a liar. For Laura, lying only can be done by saying something. Therefore, she does not understand why Charley is called as a liar but he does not say a word as seen in the following citation. She thought about what the yellow jackets had done to Charley. She thought it served Charley right, too. It served him right because he had been so monstrously naughty. And the bees had a right to sting him, when he jumped on their home. But she didnt understand why Pa had called him a little liar. She didnt understand how Charley could be a liar, when he had not said a word 1971:211. Another characteristic of Laura is helpful. It can be seen by her mannerism. At her house, children usually have to help their parents. They have different tasks to do. Boys have to help their father and girls have to help their mother. As a little girl, Laura helps Ma doing the chores. For example, every morning they wipe the dishes 1971: 28-29. She also airs the trundle bed 29, and sets the table 79. She is helpful for her family. Laura does anything that her parents ask her to do. Laura is described as an obedient child to her parents. It is seen by her reaction towards the order of her parents. Mostly the obedience is shown by obeying the instructions given by adults. The instruction is about asking for a help that the children must conduct. It is seen in the quotations below. ‘Go to sleep, Laura. Jack wont let the wolves in.’ So Laura snuggled under the covers of the trundle bed, close beside Mary, and went to sleep 1971:3. Then Pa put the roof back again, climbed down the ladder, and said to Laura: ‘Run over to the chopping block and fetch me some of those green hickory chips—new, clean, white ones.’ So Laura ran to the block where Pa chopped wood, and filled her apron with the fresh, sweet-smelling chips 1971:7. In the first quotation, her father asks her to sleep. As her reaction, she directly snuggles without complaining. In the second evidence, Laura obeys her father’s command to fetch the hickory chips without asking why or how. She also obeys anything her parents teach her about mannerism. Laura is taught by her parents, especially her mother, to act in what her mother thinks as a proper manner. This lesson of mannerism consists of idea such as sharing with other, not to be greedy and how to speak to other people. Laura follows all of these instructions obediently. Ma said, ‘Laura, arent you going to let the other girls hold your doll?’ She meant, ‘Little girls must not be so selfish.’ So Laura let Mary take the beautiful doll, and then Alice held her a minute, and then Ella 1971: 77-78. In the quotation above, at that time, Laura just got her first ragdoll as a Christmas gift. Of course, she is so interested in her new doll. Ma reminds Laura not to be selfish by telling her to share hers to other girls. Laura is obedient, so she does what Ma tells her to do without any complaints. The other values that Ma teaches to Laura is about not to be greedy. Laura gets this lesson when she is so excited because in the lake shore she finds many pretty pebbles. She picks up the pretty pebbles more than she could carry in her pocket. The heavy pebbles make her pocket overloads and finally tore her dress. Laura cries and Ma says, “Pick up the pretty pebbles, Laura. ... And another time, dont be so greedy” 1971:175. Laura obeys Ma by gathering up the pebbles, putting them in the pocket, and carrying the pocket in her lap 1971:175. Laura is also described as a child who sometimes cannot behave politely to other people. It can be seen when Laura wants to go out to play in the early spring season. Then one day Laura saw a patch of bare ground in the yard. All day it grew bigger, and before night the whole yard was bare mud. Only the icy path was left, and the snow banks along the path and the fence and beside the woodpile. ‘Cant I go out to play, Ma?’ Laura asked, and Ma said: ‘ May, Laura.’ ‘May I go out to play?’ she asked 1971:118. Laura is excited to go outside to play and she asks for Ma’s permission. But, Ma revises her word “Can’t” into “May”. According to Ma, the word “May” is more polite than “Can’t”. Laura obeys her mother by changing her word “Can’t” into “May” directly. One more evidence which shows Laura obeys her mother is when they go to the town. Laura is given a candy by the store keeper but Laura says nothing to the store keeper. It makes Ma have to ask her, ‘”What do you say, Laura?” 1971:171. Then Laura’s reaction is “opened her mouth and gulped and whispered, ‘Thank you’” 1971:171. Although Laura is described as obedient children in general, but there are times when Laura breaks the rules in the family. In the quotation below, she breaks the rule of being quiet in Sunday. She hates to follow the rule on the Sunday tradition in the family’s life. Sunday tradition in the family is children must not run or shout or be noisy in their play. However, one Sunday, Laura breaks that rule. One Sunday after supper she could not bear it any longer. She began to play with Jack, and in a few minutes she was running and shouting. Pa told her to sit in her chair and be quiet, but when Laura sat down she began to cry and kick the chair with her heels. ‘I hate Sunday’ she said. Pa put down his book. ‘Laura,’ he said sternly, ‘come here.’ Her feet dragged as she went, because she knew she deserved a spanking 1971:86. Another Laura’s disobedient act is shown when she slaps her sister’s face. One day, when Mary and Laura pick up chips, there is a fight between them. Laura grabbed the biggest chip, and Mary said: ‘I don’t care. Aunt Lotty likes my hair best, anyway. Golden hair is lots prettier than brown.’ … She could not speak, so she reached out quickly and slapped Mary’s face. ... She went slowly, dragging her feet. Pa was sitting just inside the door. He had seen her slap Mary 1971:183. Laura slaps Mary’s face. This is something against the rule, as her father says that they must never strike each other. On the other hand, Laura is described as a child who is afraid of the result of her action. As it can be seen in the quotations above, when Pa sees what she has done, she feels dreadful. Her guilt is shown by the way she goes slowly and drags her feet. Laura has two sisters, Mary and Carry. Sometimes, she is described as a competitive child. It can be seen in her mannerism. Sometimes she is jealous to Mary. She is jealous of Mary’s, such as the printing on Mary’s candy paper, Mary’s manner, and Mary’s physical features. The excerpt below shows how jealous Laura is to Mary. There was printing on them, in red letters. Ma read it for them. Marys said: Roses are red Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet, and so are you. Laura’s said only: Sweets to the sweet. The pieces of candy were exactly the same size. Lauras printing was larger than Marys 1971:172; italicized emphasis given. The background of the situation depicted in the quotation above is when Mary and Laura get candies from the shopkeeper in the town. From Laura’s point of view, it is not fair because Mary’s printing on the candy is written in long words and shapes a good verse but Laura’s printing is only said, “Sweets to the sweet.” 1971:172 Laura’s jealousy makes her feel not as perfect as Mary. She feels that she is not as good as her sister. For example, after she tears her best dress because of the heavy pebbles. The quotation below shows her thoughts about that thing. Nothing like that ever happened to Mary. Mary was a good little girl who always kept her dress clean and neat and minded her manners. Mary had lovely golden curls, and her candy heart had a poem on it. Mary looked very good and sweet, unrumpled and clean, sitting on the board beside Laura. Laura did not think it was fair 1971:175. “Nothing like that” which is said by Laura refers to something bad that Laura has done. She tears her best dress and makes her pebbles glide everywhere. Laura is jealous about the fact that Mary is more clean, more neat, and better than her. Her jealousy is also shown by jealousy to Mary’s appearance. When Aunt Polly visits the family, Ma prepares them to welcome her as it is seen in the following. “Once Aunt Lotty came to spend the day. That morning Laura had to stand still a long time while Ma unwound her hair from the cloth strings and combed it into long curls. Mary was all ready, sitting primly on a chair, with her golden curls shining and her china blue dress fresh and crisp. Laura liked her own red dress. But Ma pulled her hair dreadfully, and it was brown instead of golden, so that no one noticed it. Everyone noticed and admired Marys” 1971:182. Laura is jealous because Mary has golden hair so hers will be so nice after curling. Laura’s hair is brown and she thinks her mother pulls her hair dreadfully. Her jealousy shows in her saying “Everyone noticed and admired Marys” 1971:182. This competitive nature makes Laura feel glad when Mary is punished after their fight. This is her thought after she slaps Mary’s face: “The only thing in the whole world to be glad about was that Mary had to fill the chip pan all by herself” 1971:184

b. Mary: The Unrumpled Girl

Mary is the older sister of Laura. She is the oldest child of the family. From her personal description, it can be seen that Mary has golden hair. Compared with Laura, Mary is described as a neat and clean girl. She always minds her manner and looks very good. From the direct comment of the narrator to Mary, it can be seen that Mary is an unrumpled girl. It can be seen in the quotation of narrator comment below. Mary was a good little girl who always kept her dress clean and neat and minded her manners. Mary had lovely golden curls, and her candy heart had a poem on it. Mary looked very good and sweet, unrumpled and clean, sitting on the board beside Laura. 1971:184 Mary is depicted as very good and sweet and always clean and neat. Mary is also described as a girlie child character. She likes to play ladylike playing. It is shown when friends of her parents come to the house and bring their children. When Mr. and Mrs. Huleatt came, they brought Eva and Clarence with them. Eva was a pretty girl, with dark eyes and black curls. She played carefully and kept her dress clean and smooth. Mary liked that, ... Laura and Clarence ran and shouted and climbed trees, while Mary and Eva walked nicely together and talked 1971:179. Compared to Laura who is a boyish girl, Mary is more neat and clean. In quotation above, Laura and Mary get their friends at home. They are Clarence and Eva. Mary plays with Eva. They just walk nicely and play cleanly, but Laura and Clarence run, shout and climb the trees. When playing together with their cousins, because of her position as the oldest children in that play, she wants to play playhouse in the yard and make things like chairs, table, stoves, even children from what they can find there. It can be seen in the following. Now Mary was oldest, and she wanted to play a quiet, ladylike play. So in the afternoon the cousins made a playhouse in the yard. The stumps were chairs and tables and stoves, and leaves were dishes, and sticks were the children 1971:204. By the mannerism, she and her sister are described as little girls who like to play. They play with everything that is possible to play with. She plays with Laura in the attic with the squashes and the pumpkins 1971:19 or under the big oak trees where there is a playhouse 1971:157. The things that she uses in her play are developed by her imagination into other form. Her imagination is a significant tool for her playing activity. By the imagination, the pumpkins will be chairs and tables 19, the grass will become a carpet 157, the leaves are the dishes 204, acorns from the oaks are the cups 215, and the sticks as children 204. Mary and Laura often play with Pa. Pa plays ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ for them 1971: 98-99. They are amazed by the way Pa makes a trick in the play. When Pa plays the violin, they try to find out how Pa makes the trick with the string but she cannot see it. Mary is described as a kindhearted child. She is not selfish, wants to share what she has to her sister. She shares her toy with her sister. She has a doll named Nettie and sometimes she lets Laura to hold the doll because Laura has a corncob doll only 1971:21. In Laura’s birthday, Mary gives her a dress for Laura’s doll, Charlotte. She makes it by herself without telling Laura about it. Laura thinks that Mary makes a patchwork quilt 1971:97. Mary is also described as a child who sympathizes with other creature. It can be seen in her speech. She feels sorry for the damage that happens to animal. It is seen in the following, when she feels sorry for the doe and her yearling. I settled myself in the tree and waited again. This time I was determined to shoot the next game I saw. … After a long while, a doe and her yearling fawn came stepping daintily out of the shadows. They were not afraid at all. They walked over to the place where I had sprinkled the salt, and they both licked up a little of it. … I just sat there looking at them, until they walked away among the shadows. Then I climbed down out of the tree and came home. Laura whispered in his ear, ‘I’m glad you didnt shoot them’ Mary said, ‘We can eat bread and butter.’ Pa lifted Mary up out of her chair and hugged them both together 1971:234-235. Mary feels glad when Pa does not shoot the doe and its yearling in the wood. She says that they could eat bread and butter, no need to eat venison. In dealing with a curiosity on a thing in their life, Mary is less curious than Laura. She accepts the things without asking why or how. Although she also asks question on something that new for her, she is not as curious as Laura who likes to ask many things. The comparison about the curiosity between Mary and Laura can be seen in some parts in the story. There are times when Mary does not ask question that Laura asks. There are many things in her life that Mary sees in her own perspective. She does not know about many things and she understands those things based on her judgment and experience which is so much different to adult’s way of understanding them. For example, Mary does not know how big a bear’s drumstick is, therefore she is happy when Pa had shot a bear, and she wants to have the bear’s drumstick 1971:25. Evidence that shows Mary is a naive child is when Mary and Laura are given cookies by Mrs. Peterson. Mary wants to share two cookies fairly between her and her two sisters. She is confused because she does not know how to do it in the right way. It can be seen in the following quotation. She always gave them each a cookie when they left, and they nibbled the cookies very slowly while they walked home. Laura nibbled away exactly half of hers, and Mary nibbled exactly half of hers, and the other halves they saved for Baby Carrie. Then when they got home, Carrie had two half-cookies, and that was a whole cookie. This wasnt right. All they wanted to do was to divide the cookies fairly with Carrie. Still, if Mary saved half her cookie, while Laura ate the whole of hers, or if Laura saved half, and Mary ate her. They didnt know what to do. So each saved half, and gave it to Baby Carrie. But they always felt that somehow that wasnt quite fair 1971:179. Besides, Mary is depicted as a child who helps to do some tasks in the family. She is used to help her mother in doing the chores. There are several tasks for girl in the family. In making cheese and churn, Mary, who is bigger than Laura, is able to churn because she is strong enough to deal with the dash 1971:31. She also helped her mother in making the curd 188, picking potatoes 216, cooking 216, and also preparing the dinner 266. Mary is able to be a helper for this work or to do as she could to help. Besides, Mary is described as an obedient character. It can be seen by her reaction towards adults’ order. She does all the things that adults require her to do but sometimes she does not really like or even hate the requirement. For example, the chips picking, although she hates to do the chips picking, she actually obeys the rule that she should pick the chips. Mary does not have any other choice but to obey her parents. They were at the woodpile, gathering a pan of chips to kindle the fire in the morning. They always hated to pick up chips, but every day they had to do it. Tonight they hated it more than ever 1971:183. Another example is when Pa asks Mary and Laura to watch him in making bullets. They are asked to watch him carefully and they do so as in the quotation, “....while Laura and Mary stood on either side of him, Pa said: ‘You watch me, now, and tell me if I make a mistake.’ So they watched very carefully, ...” 1971:48. Mary’s action to do what Pa tells her to do without asking why shows her obedience. Although Mary is depicted as an obedient child, there are some parts in the story which describe her disobedience. The depiction of her disobedience appears at the time when she could not control herself to do something attracts her. The bullet was too hot to touch, but it shone so temptingly that sometimes Laura or Mary could not help touching it. Then they burned their fingers. But they did not say anything, because Pa had told them never to touch a new bullet. If they burned their fingers, that was their own fault; they should have minded him. So