Little House 5-Book Collection

Book 1: "You know what a big dog he is. Eliza scolded him, but he wouldn’t let go, and he’s so big and strong she couldn’t get away from him. He kept backing and pulling, till he tore a piece out of her skirt.”

“It was my blue print,” Aunt Eliza said to Ma.

“Dear me!” Ma said.

“He tore a big piece right out of the back of it,” Aunt Eliza said. “I was so mad I could have whipped him for it. But he growled at me.” - animal abuse, Eliza was an idiot...
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“I should think it would!” Ma said.

“He was so savage, I thought he was going to bite me,” said Aunt Eliza. “I believe he would have.”

“I never heard of such a thing!” said Ma. “What on earth did you do?”

“I turned right around and ran into the house where the children were, and slammed the door,” Aunt Eliza answered.

“Of course Prince was savage with strangers,” said Uncle Peter. “But he was always so kind to Eliza and the children I felt perfectly safe to leave them with him. Eliza couldn’t understand it at all.

“After she got into the house he kept pacing around it and growling. Every time she started to open the door he jumped at her and snarled.”

“Had he gone mad?” said Ma.

“That’s what I thought,” Aunt Eliza said. “I didn’t know what to do. There I was, shut up in the house with the children, and not daring to go out. And we didn’t have any water. I couldn’t even get any snow to melt. Every time I opened the door so much as a crack, Prince acted like he would tear me to pieces.”

“How long did this go on?” Pa asked.

“All day, till late in the afternoon,” Aunt Eliza said. “Peter had taken the gun, or I would have shot him.” - Again, the need to "shoot and whip" is inhumane. I wonder what happened to Prince, poor dog having such ungrateful owners!
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“What do you think I saw today?”

She couldn’t guess.

“Well,” Pa said. “When I was working in the clearing this morning, I looked up, and there at the edge of the woods stood a deer. She was a doe, a mother deer, and you’ll never guess what was with her!”

“A baby deer!” Laura and Mary guessed together, clasping their hands.

“Yes,” Pa said, “her fawn was with her. It was a pretty little thing, the softest fawn color, with big dark eyes. It had the tiniest feet, not much bigger than my thumb, and it had slender little legs, and the softest muzzle.

“It stood there and looked at me with its large, soft eyes, wondering what I was. It was not afraid at all.”

“You wouldn’t shoot a little baby deer, would you, Pa?” Laura said.

“No, never!” he answered. “Nor its Ma, nor its Pa. No more hunting, now, till all the little wild animals have grown up. We’ll just have to do without fresh meat till fall.” - Some sense at least!
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"It would have taken Henry and Peterson and Pa and me a couple of weeks apiece to thresh as much grain with flails as that machine threshed today. We wouldn’t have got as much wheat, either, and it wouldn’t have been as clean." Almanzo Wilder's father said threshing wheat with machines was the lazy man's way...
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Book 3:

"Laura thought of Jack and said, “I wish Jack could ride in the wagon, Pa.”

Pa did not answer. He gathered the reins tightly in his hands. Ma said, “Jack can swim, Laura. He will be all right.”

Before Pa could answer, Laura cried, “Oh, where’s Jack?”

They had forgotten Jack. They had left him on the other side of that dreadful water and now they could not see him anywhere. He must have tried to swim after them, but they could not see him struggling in the water now.

Laura swallowed hard, to keep from crying. She knew it was shameful to cry, but there was crying inside her. All the long way from Wisconsin poor Jack had followed them so patiently and faithfully, and now they had left him to drown. He was so tired, and they might have taken him into the wagon. He had stood on the bank and seen the wagon going away from him, as if they didn’t care for him at all."

- I will never forget Charles and Caroline Ingalls did not care enough for Jack, poor dog. They should have let him ride in the wagon-selfish, selfish examples and what we should NOT do.
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"“Mercy on us!” Ma said. “Whatever makes you want to see Indians? We will see enough of them. More than we want to, I wouldn’t wonder.”

“They wouldn’t hurt us, would they?” Mary asked. Mary was always good; she never spoke with her mouth full.

“No!” Ma said. “Don’t get such an idea into your head.”

“Why don’t you like Indians, Ma?” Laura asked, and she caught a drip of molasses with her tongue.

“I just don’t like them; and don’t lick your fingers, Laura,” said Ma.

“This is Indian country, isn’t it?” Laura said. “What did we come to their country for, if you don’t like them?”

Ma said she didn’t know whether this was Indian country or not. She didn’t know where the Kansas line was. But whether or no, the Indians would not be here long. Pa had word from a man in Washington that the Indian Territory would be open to settlement soon. It might already be open to settlement. They could not know, because Washington was so far away." - Common knowledge Caroline Ingalls was REALLY prejudiced against the First Nations...
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"That afternoon Mrs. Scott came to visit with Ma. While they visited, Laura and Mary sat politely, as still as mice. Mrs. Scott admired the new rocking-chair. The more she rocked in it, the more she enjoyed it, and she said how neat and comfortable and pretty the house was.

She said she hoped to goodness they would have no trouble with Indians. Mr. Scott had heard rumors of trouble. She said, “Land knows, they’d never do anything with this country themselves. All they do is roam around over it like wild animals. Treaties or no treaties, the land belongs to folks that’ll farm it. That’s only common sense and justice.”

She did not know why the government made treaties with Indians. The only good Indian was a dead Indian. The very thought of Indians made her blood run cold. She said, “I can’t forget the Minnesota massacre. My Pa and my brothers went out with the rest of the settlers, and stopped them only fifteen miles west of us. I’ve heard Pa tell often enough how they—”

Ma made a sharp sound in her throat, and Mrs. Scott stopped. Whatever a massacre was, it was something that grown-ups would not talk about when little girls were listening." What utter bullshit - many of the colonisers were savages, and knowing how to utensils or "behave like a lady" does not make one civilised!
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"Oh I suppose she went west,” Ma answered. “That’s what the Indians do.”

“Why do they do that, Ma?” Laura asked. “Why do they go west?”

“They have to,” Ma said.

“Why do they have to?”

“The government makes them, Laura,” said Pa. “Now go to sleep.”

He played the fiddle softly for a while. Then Laura asked, “Please, Pa, can I ask just one more question?”

“May I,” said Ma.

Laura began again. “Pa, please, may I—”

“What is it?” Pa asked. It was not polite for little girls to interrupt, but of course Pa could do it.

“Will the government make these Indians go west?”

“Yes,” Pa said. “When white settlers come into a country, the Indians have to move on. The government is going to move these Indians farther west, any time now. That’s why we’re here, Laura. White people are going to settle all this country, and we get the best land because we get here first and take our pick. Now do you understand?”

“Yes, Pa,” Laura said. “But, Pa, I thought this was Indian Territory. Won’t it make the Indians mad?" - the sheer arrogance displayed by Charles and Caroline Ingalls gives me a migraine. White people were there first??!! Give me a break! I wonder what these 2 would say if they knew Jesus was a middle easterner...
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Book 4:

"I followed their tracks from there, down along Big Slough and out on the prairie, southwest.

“From the time they left the old den, those wolves never stopped. They trotted along, side by side, as if they had started on a long journey and knew where they were going. I followed them far enough to be sure that I couldn’t get a shot at them. They’ve left for good.”

Laura took a deep breath as though she had forgotten to breathe till now. Pa looked at her. “You are glad they got away, Laura?” he asked.

“Yes, Pa, I am,” Laura answered. “They didn’t chase us.”

“No, Laura, they didn’t chase you. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they didn’t.”

“And what were they doing at that old den?” Ma wondered.

“They were just looking at it,” said Pa. “My belief is they came back to visit the old place where they lived before the graders came in and the antelope left. Maybe they used to live here before the hunters killed the last buffalo. Buffalo wolves were all over this country once, but there’s not many left now, even around here. The railroads and settlements kept driving them farther west. One thing’s certain if I know anything about wild animal tracks; those two wolves came straight from the west and went straight back west, and all they did here was to stop one night at the old den. And I wouldn’t wonder if they’re pretty nearly the last buffalo wolves that’ll ever be seen in this part of the country.”

“Oh, Pa, the poor wolves,” Laura mourned.

“Mercy on us,” Ma said briskly. “There’s enough to be sorry for, without being sorry for the feelings of wild beasts! Be thankful the brutes didn’t do any worse than scare you girls last night.” - Carolins Ingalls thought everything outside her comfort zone were wild beasts. It's mentalities like these which has contributed to the destruction of our environment!