Little House on the Praire: Now Seen Through the Eyes of an Adult

Little House on the Prairie is one of my favorite shows ever. I grew up on this show. I’ve seen every episode multiple times and can usually guess which episode it will be by the first scene and the music playing over it. As a little girl, I dreamed of wearing bonnets and running through endless fields and country sides with my faithful dog by my side. I wanted to write on slates and have my own horse. I thought Pa was the greatest man ever and that he could do no wrong.

I’ve recently begun to pick up the DVDs and have just started season 3. It has been different watching it straight through, from the beginning. Being that I was born in 1979 and the show aired from 1974-1982, I’ve only ever watched it in reruns -out of sync and whenever I could catch it on television.

There were a lot of things I never understood when I watched it growing up, major plot lines I missed. The biggest one was how Mr. Edwards suddenly had 3 children. I completely missed this as a child, a teen, and even recently in my adult life. I had no idea where John Jr. (and why he was called Jr. since Mr. Edwards’ first name is Isaiah), Carl, and Alicia came from. I think part of me thought it was one of those weird things they do in Soap Operas where they age some characters rapidly and others not at all. Like we were supposed to believe Isaiah and Grace were married and had 3 kids, the oldest being about 15 while everyone else stayed the same. Far fetched, but that was all I could think of.

(The answer to this puzzle is that John Jr., Carl, and Alicia’s parents died. Mr. Edwards and Grace took the children in to care for them while they tried to find someone to adopt them. Caring for the kids was the final push needed for Mr. Edwards to realize he loved Grace and marry her. They then adopted the kids.)

On that same subject, watching it from the beginning as an adult, has given me a new appreciation for the relationship between Isaiah Edwards and the widow Grace. Their courtship was real. They were very “adult”. Late night talking sessions at Grace’s home, quick kisses snuck in the post office, there was something very modern about their relationship that I really took to. I would watch a show all about them. And, despite the problems they both experienced in their lives in the past, they really seemed to have their shit together. They were able to take on 3 children like it was nothing. Grace had a nice home for them all to live in. I know things don’t exactly go well for them, but for now, things seem very good. Unlike the Ingalls.

This is where things have really changed for me. The Ingalls really aren’t that great of a family and Pa is really kind of a deadbeat.

I know he seems to try hard and everyone in the family is always pulling together to get through yet another crisis caused by Pa’s poor decision making. But, that’s just it; most of their problems stem directly from Pa’s poor planning. The only other thing that seems to cause them problems is some horrific natural disaster that only ever affects the Ingalls. Everyone else seems to pull through, but the Ingalls are usually stuck with nothing but their prayers and the kindness of the community to help them get by.

I understand the whole point of this show is to love thy neighbor and god and that if everyone just has faith, everything will work out. But did faith ever really work out for the Ingalls? Not really. They never really get out of poverty. Pa usually had to run off to some incredibly dangerous far away side job to make it through winter after his crop failed yet again. Maybe farming just wasn’t his strength.

He’s constantly putting his friend, Nels Oelson in a tough spot, by only buying things from the mercantile on credit and asking for an extension on paying the bill. This causes strife in the marriage of Nels and Harriet Oelson. Nels wants to be a good friend and let it go, but Harriet is a good business woman and knows they can’t continue to let people extend their credit lines and pay bills with chickens and eggs. Yes, Harriet is a shrew, but you can’t blame her for wanting them to pay their bill. She has her own bills to pay.

In one episode, Caroline (Ma) is infuriated because Harriet denies her request to purchasing something on credit. Charles (Pa) goes down there to straighten things out, but Harriet wouldn’t budge. This makes Charles and Caroline so furious that they storm out in a rage and then continue to bad mouth Harriet for not being a good Christian neighbor. The woman has bills to pay!

Charles is always trying to get something for free. Unfortunately, people keep helping him out because he is such a “good man” that he never learns his lesson.

When he does actually attempt to get ahead, he then doesn’t get what he should for the job. In the last episode I watched, he bargains with a woman to refinish her dining room in exchange for her old China, as a gift for Caroline. The woman says that the job is worth more for that, and as rich and as nice as she is, she probably would have paid him an additional fee on top of the dishes, but he says that the dishes are enough. Not thinking ahead. The additional fee probably would have come in handy when, just a couple of episodes later, a tornado rips through Walnut Grove effectively destroying Charles’s crop, and only his crop.

I feel bad for ripping on the Ingalls, but it’s hard not to when from Charles all the way down to Carrie, they really don’t put much back into society considering all they ask for in return.

He throws a fit when his property taxes are raised because they are building new roads in the county. Roads that just before he got that bill, he was thrilled about because it would give more business to Hansen’s Mill, thus putting more money into Charles’s pocket. I mean, it’s common sense, Charles. Somebody has to pay for those new shiny roads. It takes a poor Russian immigrant to set Charles straight.

Speaking of Hansen, did you ever notice the awesome friendship between Hansen and Doc Baker? I never even realized Hansen was such an important person on the show. He’s in every episode. He’s funny. Put him with Doc Baker and the two are a riot. An excellent comedic duo, for real. I would watch a Doc Baker/Mr. Hansen spin off.

In the end, I still love the show, mainly for the nostalgia factor. All of the god talk and “just have faith” talk gets quite grating after a while. Though Harriet, Nellie, and Willie are not very nice people, I find myself understanding more and more why they act the way they do. Because, really, often times Laura starts it.

One other thing of note, Mary Ingalls is very scary. I don’t know if it’s just because her eyes are so ridiculously blue, but she’s always just staring all vacant like. Like she’s having some sort of freakish psychotic fantasy and could snap at any moment. Or maybe it’s just because Melissa Sue Anderson is a terrible actress.

And don’t get me started on Carrie Ingalls. There is definitely something wrong with that child. I look forward to her falling in the well (only a few more episodes to go before that happens).