How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Of course Sam was almost a grownup himself. He was sixteen; he'd been away at college for almost a year, so you couldn't really call him a child anymore. I guess that was part of the trouble; he thought he was a grownup, and he didn't want anybody to tell him what to do. Except I could tell that he was still afraid of Father. (1.52)
Sam is old enough not to be a child, but not quite mature enough to be an adult. Did you notice how Tim never says that Sam is actually a grownup? He says Sam is "almost" there or that Sam "thought he was a grownup." Does this mean it's all in Sam's head?
Quote #2
"You can't order me anymore, Father. I'm a man."
"A man? You're a boy, Sam, a boy dressed up in a gaudy soldier's suit." (1.160-161)
Sam's Father makes his feelings crystal clear: Sam is "a boy" playing dress up. According to Papa Meeker, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We're thinking this is going to be a sticking point between father and son.
Quote #3
He seemed so brave and grown-up, and I wished that I could be brave and grown-up like him, too. (5.7)
All Tim wants is to be like his brother. Check out how we have a particular phrase repeated twice here: "brave and grown-up." Tim seems to think being brave and growing up are one and the same. What do you think about this pairing?
Quote #4
"The boy has to learn a lesson, he's far too headstrong."
"He isn't a boy anymore," Mother said.
"He's sixteen years old, that's a boy, Susannah."
"He's seventeen, Life. How old were you when you left home?"
"That was different," he growled. (7.5-9)
Even Sam's parents disagree about what it means to be a man. According to Sam's father, age makes someone a man. To him, Sam is too young to be an adult, so that makes him a kiddo. But Mama Meeker sees things differently. She figures that Sam has left home, and that makes him a man. Which parent do you agree with?
Quote #5
It seemed pretty exciting when we passed a house, especially if there were some people there. A couple of times there were children staring out the windows as we went by. It made me feel proud of myself for being a man while they were still children, and I shouted at the oxen and smacked them on their rumps with my stick, just to show off how casual and easy I was with oxen and how used I was to managing them. (7.30)
Check out Tim—he's quite the performer. But with all this showing off, we're wondering if Tim really knows what it means to be an adult. Do you think Tim is really a grownup here? Or is he just pretending to be one?
Quote #6
Ever since I had got the wagon home by myself I hadn't felt like a boy anymore. You don't think that things really happen overnight, but this one did. Of course I was dead tired when I went to bed that night, and Mother let me sleep late in the morning. And when I woke up I was different. I noticed it first at breakfast. Usually I sat there over my porridge moaning to myself about the chores I had to do or having to go to school or something, and trying to think of some way to get out of whatever it was. […]
But that morning after the terrible trip home, right from the first moment we got finished saying grace, I began planning the things I had to do—which things had to be done first and what was the best way to get them done. It was funny: it didn't even cross my mind to stall or try to get out of the work. (10.14-15)
Talk about pulling a 180. Tim goes from feeling like a kid to feeling like a grownup literally overnight. Well, that was a pretty harrowing experience he had with those cowboys. What do you think of this sudden change? Can anyone really grow up that fast?
Quote #7
We discussed it all, and about halfway through breakfast I began to realize that I had changed. I wasn't acting my usual self, I was acting more like a grownup. You couldn't say that I was really an adult, but I wasn't a child anymore, that was certain. […] But even though it was nice to feel more grown-up and act that way, too, I missed Father. Especially toward the end of the day, when I was tired and cold and hungry and there was still wood to be brought up and the barn to be cleaned and Old Pru to be milked, I'd begin feeling sorry for myself and wishing that Father was back. (10.17-18)
It's rough on Tim to be stuck between childhood and adulthood. If he's not "really an adult" and he's not a child, what is he? Well, today we'd call Timmy a teenager, but they didn't use that word back in the colonial days. At least being more grown-up means no one orders Tim around.
Quote #8
"You've changed, Tim."
"I'm more of a grownup, now."
"I can see that. Has it been hard on you and Mother?" (11.76-78)
Tim finally gets to show Sam how much he's grown. We bet this is a proud moment for Tim. He's finally coming into being a grownup, just like his big bro.
Quote #9
He grinned. "Do I look different?"
"Dirtier," she said.
He laughed. "Is that all?"
"No, older," she said. "You've gotten older."
"Tim has too. I hardly recognized him."
"He's had to grow up fast," Mother said. "He didn't have much choice." (11.112-117)
Sam and his mom agree: both Tim and Sam look older. According to Mama Meeker, Tim was forced to grow up. What about Sam? Was he forced to grow up quickly or was it his choice?
Quote #10
I didn't feel like his little brother so much anymore, I felt more like his equal. (11.152)
After spending most of the book wanting to be more grownup like his big bro, Tim now feels totally differently. Finally, our little Tim is so grownup that he feels like Sam's "equal." That's a pretty huge accomplishment for Tim, so we'll give our favorite little bro a pat on the back.