A Lantern in Her Hand

“Old lady Deal flared up a little. ‘I’m no one period. I’ve lived with spinning-wheels and telephones…with tallow-dips and electric lights. I’m not antique. I’m just old. It represents me, doesn’t it?’”

This quote characterizes Abbie as wise, experienced, and spirited. Abbie’s life is a timeline of major moments in American history. Therefore, in her old age, Abbie herself is the physical symbol of American history. This positions Abbie early on in the novel as the hero of the story.

“And she is to need them both,—the physical attributes of the peasant and the mental ones of the aristocrat,—the warm heart of the Irish and the steadfastness of the Scotch. Yes, Abbie Mackenzie is to need them both in the eighty years she is to live,—courage and love,—a song upon her lips and a lantern in her hand.”

In this quote, Abbie is characterized by her family legacy. Born from two different but equally historic families, Abbie is the living embodiment of her mother’s Irish grit and her father’s Scottish refinement. Both sides of her family tree are formative to her character development. This quote also foreshadows future conflict and emphasizes that her ethnic and national heritage are precisely what will help her endure conflict and help to build America.

“Her heart would swell in a feeling of oneness with Nature and the Creator of it, and there would come to her a great longing for things she did not quite know or understand.”

This quote emphasizes Abbie’s connection with the natural world, her ideal setting. Abbie’s character development is furthered by her setting, therefore the changes in setting highlight internal changes in Abbie. This quote highlights the novel’s message that a person must leave their comfort zone to learn and grow as an individual.

“It seemed that life was doing something to her which she could not countenance. She had a queer sensation of wind blowing past her,—of wind that she could not stop.”

This quote characterizes Abbie’s coming-of-age journey in her adolescence. Abbie still doesn’t know a lot about the world at this point, and the dawning knowledge that she is at a pivotal point in her life foreshadows that she will ultimately have to adapt to new, challenging circumstances whether she wants to or not.

“All her old love of life seemed to concentrate on one thing,—the little soft, helpless bundle. The world of romance, of courtly men and lovely ladies was a world of unreality,—and only Will and the little son were worth her thoughts.”

When Abbie becomes a mother, her character development shifts significantly. Motherhood teaches Abbie the value of family over materialistic fantasies. Her old, girlish dreams become silly in the context of her love and devotion for her children.

“So Will had said he was going West. The era of this freedom had not dawned. Abbie Deal’s man had said he was going to Nebraska, and Abbie had to go too. It was as simple as that, then.”

As a woman in the 19th century, Abbie has little autonomy over her own life. She is bound to her husband and his ambitions. Although Abbie finds purpose in being a partner to her husband, this quote nonetheless exposes how difficult it was to be a woman. Abbie has no control over her life because her husband makes the decisions for the family.

“Will’s eyes, full of the light of hope and courage, looked to the west. But Abbie’s, tear-misted, clung to the east.”

Will is the character who propels the storyline to Nebraska. He is a pioneer at heart and brings Abbie into the world of being a settler. Abbie ultimately finds purpose in being a pioneer, but this quote shows the push and pull between the future and the past.

“The grass out there,—would it never cease to wave? There were four rhythmic beats like music, but music which irritated rather than soothed one: Blow…wave…ripple…dip. It beat upon her brain, so that she turned wearily away from the sight.”

This quote characterizes the setting of the Nebraska prairie as barren, brittle, and exhausting. In this novel, settings and environments play an important role in character and plot development.

“There is no division nor subtraction in the heart-arithmetic of a good mother. There are only addition and multiplication.”

This quote characterizes Abbie’s motherhood as an all-encompassing happiness. In becoming a mother, Abbie exemplifies the maternal expectations of women to be generous with their love. More children means a bigger family, which equals greater happiness.

“And so Abbie Deal went happily about her work, one baby in her arms and the other at her skirts, courage her lode-star and love her guide,—a song upon her lips and a lantern in her hand.”

In this quote, Abbie is characterized as the ideal pioneer woman. Her song is a symbol of her resilience, and the lantern in her hand is a symbol of her pioneer spirit. She can balance being a devoted mother with the grueling manual work of building a new town in a new state in a new America.

“There was always so much to be done. One never could satisfy the demands of Work, that taskmaster which drove every one in the new country before the lash.”

This quote characterizes pioneer life as deeply difficult; the work is never done. It also celebrates The Pioneer Spirit of those who sacrificed themselves to build a new world. Everyone in pioneer life works; the only way a new American can be built is through the hard work of a community of people.

“If the faith of all the mothers could blossom to its full fruition, there would be no unsuccessful men in the land.”

This quote celebrates mothers for their belief in their children. Mothers don’t just raise children; they raise people to be a full version of themselves. This quote also parallels motherhood with the symbol of blossoming, creating a metaphor in which mothers are the gardeners of humankind.

“Service finds its greatest opportunity and its least begrudged hours of labor among neighbors in a new community through which lines have not been drawn and into which class has not yet come.”

This passage highlights the importance of community. Neighbors working together and supporting one another through tough times are the foundation of individual success. There is an idyllic idea here in which pioneers were of a community that had no class distinctions or biases because they were all starting from the same point. This celebrates the society of pioneers and settlers.

“On the day in June in which Abbie did her first full day’s work, the grasshoppers lifted their wings and flew to other fields,—as complete and unified a departure as their coming had been.”

The grasshoppers are a symbol of bad luck and destruction. In this quote, Abbie’s grief and depression are paralleled with the symbol of the grasshoppers. When they leave the community, Abbie is finally allowed to move forward with her life. This highlights that the environment is an important and metaphorical parallel for character development.

“Ten years! Small wonder that love would break under circumstances like these. Standing there in the soddie door, she seemed two personalities. One argued bitterly that it was impossible for love to keep going when there was no hope for the future, suggested that there was no use trying to keep it going. The other said sternly that marriage was not the fulfillment of a passion,—marriage was the fulfillment of love. And love was sometimes pleasure and sometimes duty.”

Abbie’s complex characterization is marked by the dueling influences of her internal conflict and her love for her family. This quote emphasizes that marriage isn’t easy, but that committing oneself to love and family is worth the risk of self-sacrifice. Love can be a pleasure but it can also be a duty, which is an idea that emphasizes Aldrich’s message that it’s important to put the good of the family before individual happiness.

“By 1880 the Deal land was all fenced. The fence was a symbol,—man’s challenge to the raw west. Every fence post was a sign post…Man’s system had improved upon the sinuously winding vagaries of the old buffalo, and the road, although still grass-grown, ran straight west past the house. The development of the road is the evolution of the various stages of civilization.”

The novel makes it clear what the Deals’ fence represents; it does not leave the interpretation of this image up to the reader. This is a statement of the novel’s value system, which revolves around a belief in Eurocentric culture and progress. The word “improved” implies that the natural state of the land and those who reside on it—both animals and Indigenous communities—are of a lower order and need to be “civilized” by the white settlers.

“She did not care especially, except for one thing. The light! She ought not lose sight of its faint gleam. Some tiny spark of memory kept reminding her that she must never take her eyes away from the far-off glow of the lantern.”

This quote repeats the symbol of the lantern, this time to highlight that the light Abbie guides others with is internal and therefore can be used to guide herself. This highlights her strength, resilience, and courage.

“A long wedge-shaped line of wild geese flew low. Will lay sleeping. Suddenly, Abbie Deal seemed greater than herself, larger than humanity. A sense of deep wisdom was within her, a flood of infinite strength enveloped her.”

Will’s death is an important plot moment in this book. It activates a new journey in Abbie’s character development, in which she is forced to live her life without her partner. This quote captures Abbie’s characterization as resilient and emphasizes Will’s importance to the story.

“How did they do it, she wondered? How did those writers you loved make you live in their stories? How did their people move across the pages like flesh and blood friends? How could they bring tears to your eyes and laughter to your lips? How could the winds sweep through their books so that you heard its endless rushing? How could the prairie grass blow for them so that you saw it wave and ripple? How could the Mayflowers and the honey-locusts drip their fragrance for them, so that you smelled it across the years? She did not know.”

This passage celebrates the novel as an art form. Using metafiction, Aldrich uses fiction to advocate for the importance and beauty of fiction. This quote is also important because it emphasizes Abbie’s characterization as creative and artistic. Decades after she first dreamed of becoming an artist, Abbie still craves the process, which highlights that she is, at her core, an artist.

“Home was something besides so much lumber and plaster. You built your thoughts into the framework. You planted a little of your heart with the trees and the shrubbery.”

In this novel, home is a symbol of security, stability, and comfort that emphasizes The Importance of Family. It is what Abbie works hard to build and protect. This quote emphasizes the importance of this theme as metaphorical of love, and not only a physical space.

“Children of her children, she loved them as she had loved their parents. Did a woman never get over loving? Deep love brought relatively deep heartaches. Why could not a woman of her age, whose family was raised, relinquish the hold upon her emotions? Why could she not have a peaceful old age, wherein there entered neither great affection nor its comrade, great sorrow?”

Love is important to this novel because it informs themes and character development. In this quote, Aldrich highlights love as a nuanced topic. Love is beautiful and good, but it also ties people to others and forces them to be selfless. Abbie loves her children and her grandchildren, and that also means that she will be taking care of others well into her elderly years. This quote celebrates the novel’s belief in a mother’s capacity for endless love.

“Abbie Deal thoroughly enjoyed talking to this grandchild. Any of the rest of the family would have been a little impatient with an old woman’s musings. The others were always so alert, so active, so poised for flight. Of them all, only little Laura Deal wanted to sit and talk and dream. She told her that now.”

Abbie’s relationship with Laura is special. Through this special relationship, Laura becomes the person who will continue with Abbie’s legacy. She holds Abbie’s stories with her, therefore Abbie’s memory and history will live on.

“They always seemed to me a sort of symbol…standing for everything that was fine and artistic and lovely. You probably don’t understand, but the work on the land in our early days was so hard that it took all of our time and strength to keep body and soul together. There was neither time nor opportunity for the things that many of us wanted, with all our hearts, to do. But we kept our eyes on a sort of gleam ahead, a hope that our boys and girls could have all the things we could not have. And so the pearls became a symbol to me of those things.”

In this quote, the pearl necklace is emphasized as a symbol of the art and aesthetic beauty Abbie long admired but gave up for Will’s pioneer dream. The pearls are representative of her hope and resilience. Because they are a family heirloom, they are also the symbol of family, legacy, and love.