42 pages • 1-hour read
The Winter Room
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Themes
The Challenge of Farming Life in Early 20th-Century America
Paulsen sets the novel in a rural area of northern Minnesota, offering insight into the challenges of farming life in an earlier, pre-industrialized America where farm work depended primarily on manual labor. The story depicts a simpler lifestyle and a slower world with few machines and material possessions as Paulsen conveys the experiences and patterns that defined country life in America for centuries. His father and older brother, Wayne, assume the primary responsibilities and chores around the farm. His father plows the fields with horses, and they all have to fence the animals with their own hands. Eldon’s family relies on animals and plants for their sustenance and survival. Their house is a simple wooden cabin with no electricity, as they use lanterns for light and a wood-burning stove for heat. As Eldon explains, the family’s only income is “milk and cream and egg and grain money” (16), things they sell in town.
Eldon’s family also has a specific structure. The male members of the family, like his father and Wayne, are responsible for the chores, while his mother is the head of the household and manages the money. Apart from the repetitive physical labor, the family also enjoys moments of fun and recreation with trips to the lake or special visits to town. They also enjoy a few moments of community with neighbors. While they live away from urban society in the farm’s isolation, Paulsen represents the idea of a close-knit, nuclear family as a key part of traditional farming life and conveys the values of independence and self-sufficiency.
Paulsen’s story appreciates the simplicity and quiet of Eldon’s family lifestyle but eschews an idealized version of rural life in America as idyllic. Pre-mechanized farming required collective physical labor that consumed people’s lives. Seasons like summer, otherwise a period of rest and renewal, demand the greatest effort from Eldon’s family. For instance, activities like thrashing, stacking, churning, and plowing dominate Wayne’s free time, and he must work hard when he does not go to school. Even with his significant contribution to the family, Wayne dreams of a different life away from the farm. The narrative also conveys the melancholy and loneliness deriving from daily work and the isolation of country life. As a child, Eldon does not always realize the struggles of the adult world but witnesses his father’s endeavors for survival. After a hard day of haying, Eldon watches his father lamenting how “the days are long and the nights are short” (31), indicating the harsh reality of farming life. Ultimately, the loving bonds between the family counterbalance the frugal living and solitude. Paulsen offers a vivid depiction of a past period in American history with a nuanced approach to country life and making a living off the land.
The Importance of Storytelling in Character Formation and Growth
Storytelling is a central topic in the novel as a tool for transmitting knowledge, fostering family bonds, and reinforcing identity. Stories are integral to the narrative structure as Paulsen devotes the three final chapters to Uncle David’s narration. His storytelling is the culmination of the winter season and the most important moment for Eldon as a crucial part of his development. Early in the novel, Eldon notes Uncle David’s love of stories, depicting him as an avid reader who often passes on wisdom in daily life. Eldon and Wayne also demonstrate a desire for stories as they are inspired by a Western novel to play the cowboys. Uncle David’s stories become a ritualized process in the family as they gather around the stove to listen every winter night. The external transformation of nature during the season also reflects the internal transformation the characters experience with Uncle David’s stories. For Eldon, the storytelling process feels like “time has stopped” (45). This signifies its impact on Eldon’s emotional world and Uncle David’s power as a storyteller to nurture his imagination.
Uncle David’s stories convey lessons and wisdom that have a formative influence on Eldon and Wayne as they provide insight into the adult world. Through Alida’s story, Uncle David recounts his trauma and grief over the death of his wife and child when he was young while also conveying his experience of immigration. The story teaches Eldon about heartbreak, loss, and endurance against life’s struggles. The story of Orud, influenced by the legends of Norse mythology, reinforces identity as Uncle David passes on elements of the Norwegian tradition. While Eldon grows up assimilated into American society, Uncle David, as a first-generation immigrant, preserves part of his ancestral culture. The stories also convey lessons on life and death. Crazy Allen’s story illustrates to Eldon the importance of facing life—and death—with humor. The story helps him reconsider his fear of death, as Crazy Allen, who faced his imminent death by playing jokes to make his friends laugh, makes Eldon “laugh at death” (53) himself. The teachings conveyed by Uncle David’s stories reinforce Eldon’s understanding of the world and advance his growth.
Uncle David’s story about his life as a young woodcutter in America makes Wayne question the nature of storytelling, illustrating Eldon and Wayne’s contrasting viewpoints. Eldon understands the value of stories in preserving and transmitting memory across generations. For Eldon, Uncle David’s stories are fictional and help “his memory become [their] memory” (53). For Wayne, though, the stories “[become] real in his mind” (54). His perspective indicates the power of storytelling to inspire and make meaning of reality. However, Wayne is inspired by legendary and heroic figures and contests the idea that Uncle David, an old and simple man, can be the protagonist in a story. Uncle David summons all his strength to demonstrate to himself that he remains the same internally by cutting wood like a youthful person. Ultimately, he demonstrates to Eldon and Wayne that stories, mythical or realistic, are equally imaginative and reinforce spiritual sustenance. Therefore, storytelling is integral to Eldon and Wayne’s character growth and maturity.
Living Attuned to the Natural World
Throughout the novel, Paulsen underscores the pivotal role of the natural world in human life, exploring the interaction between people and nature. The idea of “tuning” in the introductory chapter suggests a harmonious coexistence between nature and humans that involves the senses. Eldon grows up in a bond with nature, attuned to seasonal changes and perceptive of the intricacies of the natural world. For Eldon, each season is a different experience and marks his emotional connection with his surroundings. Life on the farm shapes his perception of the world, as the family relies on the natural world for survival. Eldon perceives the transition between seasons in distinct ways that reflect his inner world. Spring signifies the “awakening of smells” (7). As the season passes, “summer starts slow,” and “the soil becomes rocky” (24) as the time for plowing approaches. While perceiving the natural changes around him, he also understands each season through the family’s activities. For instance, fall begins with trips to the lake and continues with the killing of animals. Eldon experiences winter as a physical and emotional transition. He senses an in-between place “when fall is gone and winter hasn’t come yet” (40). This liminality suggests the transformational impact of winter in nature, bringing “new light” and, as Eldon believes, enlivening the objects around the farm.
While exploring the connection between nature and humans, Paulsen avoids a romanticized depiction of this relationship. Throughout the story, the author emphasizes that Eldon’s family depends on nature and its unpredictability. Alongside nature’s beauty, the text illustrates its harsh and less charming aspects. Farming requires demanding labor and working with the land proves a harsh and tough lifestyle. Eldon also acknowledges parts of nature that seem ugly to humans like “stink,” the smell of dead animals and maggots. Eldon’s traumatizing experience of the animals’ killing also indicates the complex relationship between humans and nature. While Eldon cannot stand the violence against the animals, they remain necessary for the family’s sustenance, as represented in the story. Through the scene, though, Paulsen conveys the respect of Eldon’s family toward animals and their thankfulness for providing them with nutrition. Simultaneously, Eldon and his father demonstrate an emotional connection with animals, for example with their love of horses. The text conveys that balance is a key element in the relationship between nature and humans. Like humanity, nature is also equally capable of beauty and harshness. Ultimately, living attuned to nature involves people’s respect, humility, and understanding of the natural world.
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