I’m reading the book as an adult to my boys and I’m not sure how to process the story of the older boys and Mr. Corse. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts and insights.
First of all, what in the world is happening in the lives of these teenage boys (Bill Ritchie and others)? Why are they beating up teachers, one to the point of death (Jonas Lane), so that the teachers will leave their teaching posts? Why is this celebrated by Bill’s father, and why isn’t the community doing anything to correct this family? I’m so baffled by everyone’s reactions to this, it feels like a normal reality that many of the characters feel helpless against.
>Father answered. “The school trustees were fair and aboveboard with him; they told him what he was undertaking. He undertook it. It’s his job, not yours.”
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>”But maybe they’ll kill him!” Almanzo said.
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>”That’s his business,” said Father. “When a man undertakes a job, he has to stick to it till he finishes it. If Corse is the man I think he is, he’d thank nobody for interfering.”
And then the whipping scene in the school. Mr. Corse was worried for his safety, these boys are \*very\* out of line and are empowered to behave like this, and I’m a reader who has been shaped by my modern culture, I understand all that. But an ox-whip “loaded with iron, that could kill an ox” is just shocking to me.
I guess I’m just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on how the ideas, beliefs, and the cultural/family dynamics that created spaces where these kinds of things happened maybe also shaped the lives of people and how they interacted with the world. Maybe everyone was “more resilient” back in the day, but at what cost? Is this shown through Almanzo’s perspective and seems worse than it really was? But these older boys are clearly worrying many people. (or am I being “too sensitive” and “too shaped by modern sensibilities”, and why is that bad given the violence and aggression these characters apparently endured?)
by Hmm_PleaseTellMeMore
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My son n read Huck Finn – he hates reading- and his response was – why are you making me read about murder? I read it as a child, can’t remember it as gory!