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Fair warning that the book series shouldn't be treated as historically accurate:
Quote:
Laura Ingalls Wilder did not write a work of non-fiction, the historical accuracy of the Little House books leaves much to be desired. Wilder bent the truth on more than one occasion to keep her story interesting.[14] She also presented a view of the world that supported her family over the truth.[17] She particularly ignores history regarding the government's involvement in homesteading,[17] and the existences and tragedies faced by Native American people.[14] This includes the illegal occupation of the land by her family, when that land was still the Osage's land, as recognized by the United States government.[14]
"Accuracy to history" of the Little House on the Prairie book series entry on Wikipedia. Yes, Wikipedia is citing the sources to this and many other of its entries.
Even when Laura was a kid, there were practices and viewpoints that by today's standards would be racist or sexist. I don't know if "they were a product of their time" is a good reasoning for such acts. However, it certain doesn't help when modern SJW views try to present modern values/behaviors on people from so long ago.
Was Christianity a different doctrine during her life than it is now?
I wrote a post about this, but it mysteriously disappeared.
When the "there were no people, only Indians" statement was called to her attention, Laura apologized. She said that of course Indians are people, and she didn't know why that mistake hadn't been caught before. In future editions, she had the sentence corrected to "there were no settlers, only Indians."
She was a product of her time, as we all are, but she was not extraordinarily prejudiced and had no desire to offend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevinm
.... and Mary did not run a "Blind School". In reality, she was a burden on her family and never left home.
This is an awfully harsh thing to say. I can't see any hints in writings by or about the Ingalls family that Mary was a "burden." She wasn't bed-bound, needing 24-hour care. She was active around the house, performed many household chores, did handcrafts, wrote letters to her friends, played the organ, and seems to have been a very pleasant person. Yes, she did live with her parents until her widowed mother died, then for a few years with her sister Carrie until she (Mary) passed away. That was normal in that day, and, I dare say, not abnormal for a totally blind person even today.
Big, big time Little House fan. Reading was my whole life as a child and continues now. I became a librarian and educator. But even I, (an ALA member) thinks this is crazy.
I wrote a post about this, but it mysteriously disappeared.
When the "there were no people, only Indians" statement was called to her attention, Laura apologized. She said that of course Indians are people, and she didn't know why that mistake hadn't been caught before. In future editions, she had the sentence corrected to "there were no settlers, only Indians."
She was a product of her time, as we all are, but she was not extraordinarily prejudiced and had no desire to offend.
This is an awfully harsh thing to say. I can't see any hints in writings by or about the Ingalls family that Mary was a "burden." She wasn't bed-bound, needing 24-hour care. She was active around the house, performed many household chores, did handcrafts, wrote letters to her friends, played the organ, and seems to have been a very pleasant person. Yes, she did live with her parents until her widowed mother died, then for a few years with her sister Carrie until she (Mary) passed away. That was normal in that day, and, I dare say, not abnormal for a totally blind person even today.
No, Laura became a teacher as a teenager and used her paycheck to send Mary to a school for the blind.
Well, there goes Little House on the Prairie, being thrown out of libraries run by liberals all over the country. Before long, only Marx will be allowed to be read.
Location: Born in L.A. - NYC is Second Home - Rustbelt is Home Base
1,607 posts, read 1,086,651 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eumaois
Fair warning that the book series shouldn't be treated as historically accurate:
"Accuracy to history" of the Little House on the Prairie book series entry on Wikipedia. Yes, Wikipedia is citing the sources to this and many other of its entries.
Yes, were not perfect, but better than fiction
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