Wilder’s Goal in Writing LHoP

1. Wilder’s Goal in Writing LHoP

2. Wilder in 1937 “I began to think what a wonderful childhood I had had. How I had seen the whole frontier, the woods, the Indian country of the great plains, the frontier towns, the building of rail-roads in wild, unsettled country, homesteading and farmers coming in to take possession.” (Emphasis mine).

3. Wilder in 1937 “I realized that I had seen and lived it all—all the successive phases of the frontier, first the frontiersman, then the pioneer, then the farmers, and the towns. Then I understood that in my own life I represented a whole period of American History....”

4. Wilder in 1937 “I wanted the children now to understand more about the beginnings of things, to know what is behind the things they see—what it is that made America as they know it. Then I thought of writing the story of my childhood in several volumes—an eight volume historical novel for children covering every aspect of the American frontier.”

5. Contemporary Concerns • Today, though, the teaching of LHoP, in light of what we know historically, needs to be though through carefully, both in order to be sure that young readers see more than just this view of Native Americans, but also so that Native American children, who often only see these distorted images of themselves in children’s books, can find other portrayals that are realistic to their heritage and to their current culture.

6. Dr. Debbie Reese American Indians in Children’s Literature Blog. http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

7. Smulders’ Thesis Smulders suggests that Wilder’s views on Native Americans were complex;that in some ways, Wilder inserts Laura’s questions into the novel in order to imply that there might be something wrong with how the Ingalls are viewing the Osage Indians. Smuldersgoes on to argue that it is possible for an author to question something but ultimately decide to drop those questions. The rest of her article is designed to show the two-step process by which Wilder repeatedly called her family’s behavior into question and then ends up validating that behavior.

8. Smulders: Laura’s Paradox “Despite Laura's attraction to the undomesticated life of the prairie, the series gradually forces her to embrace whiteness (whether in women, sugar, or flour) as a sign of refinement and to reject brownness as its antithesis; for as Nellie explains in Little Town on the Prairie, ‘a lady always keeps her skin white’ (133).” In what ways is the superiority of whiteness or European culture put forward in LHoP? What part do the illustrations play?

9. Fellman and Smulders on Mythology Both Fellman and Smulders emphasize that Wilder drew from prevailing stereotypes about the American West and about American Indians. Smulders backs up this assertion by quoting from Berkhofer, a historian who has specialized on the myth of the American frontier. Where have you seen images of the American West? Where have you seen images of American Indians?

10. Berkhofer’s Definition of a “Good Indian” "the good Indian appears friendly, courteous, and hospitable to the...invaders of his lands"; he "exhibit[s] great calm and dignity in bearing, conversation, and even under torture"; and he "live[s] a life of liberty, simplicity, and innocence."

11. Berkhofer’s Definition of a “Bad Indian” the bad Indian or ignoble savage, immodest in both dress and attitude, is promiscuous and improvident, treacherous and rapacious. Accordingly, this view "substitute[s] license for liberty, a harsh lot for simplicity, and dissimulation and deceit for innocence"

12. Parallel Narratives There are two parallel narratives running in LHoP – one that focuses on pioneer life and another that implicates the Ingalls’ family with outside forces. Inside vs. Outside Domestic vs. Wild European vs. Native American