The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
"The Country of the Pointed Firs" by Sarah Orne Jewett is a nuanced exploration of life in a small coastal town in Maine, focusing on the narrator, a woman writer seeking solace and inspiration. Arriving in Dunnet Landing, she stays with Mrs. Almira Todd, a widowed herbalist known for her deep connections to the local community and her role in addressing the physical and emotional needs of its residents. As the narrator immerses herself in village life, she not only assists Almira but also forms meaningful relationships with various townsfolk, including Captain Littlepage and Mrs. Blackett.
Throughout her summer, the narrator discovers the rich tapestry of human experience in this seemingly insular community, learning about love, loss, and resilience. The story highlights themes of connection and belonging, as the narrator evolves from an outsider to a cherished member of the community. The narrative culminates in a Bowden family reunion that emphasizes the importance of family ties and shared history. As the summer ends, the narrator reflects on her deepening relationships and the emotional impact of her time in Dunnet Landing, ultimately cherishing the connections she has forged. Jewett's work offers a poignant glimpse into the dynamics of small-town life and the universal search for understanding and connection.
The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
First published: 1896
Type of work: Novella
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of plot: Late nineteenth century
Locale: Maine
Principal Characters
The Narrator , a woman writer who is no longer youngAlmira Todd , an herbalistMrs. Blackett , her motherWilliam Blackett , Almira’s younger brother, a fisherman and farmer
The Story
The narrator, a woman writer, comes to Dunnet Landing one summer to escape a too-busy life in Boston. In this Maine coastal town, which impressed her on an earlier visit, she hopes to find a quiet haven in which to complete a long-delayed, important piece of writing. She stays with Mrs. Almira Todd, a widowed herbalist who turns out to be a central person in the village. Almira is a kind of partner both to the doctor and the minister in dealing with physical and emotional ills, especially of the women and children of Dunnet Landing. Almost without realizing it, the narrator finds herself drawn into helping Almira with her work. While Almira gathers herbs in the countryside, the narrator sells remedies and spruce beer at Almira’s house on the edge of the village.
When she realizes she is getting little writing done, the narrator resigns her informal sales position and rents the schoolhouse just outside the village as a hermitage for writing during the day. Instead of causing a break between the narrator and Almira, this change brings them closer. During the early summer evenings, Almira gradually tells the narrator the story of her life, including the fact that she and the man she loves most are prevented by his family from marrying.
In the course of the summer, and with help from Almira, the writer gradually comes to know and treasure the people of Dunnet Landing and to appreciate the richness of lives and characters that at first seemed isolated, insular, and reticent. The aged recluse Captain Littlepage comes to her at the schoolhouse, eager to confide in someone seemingly like himself. He tells her the story of his shipwreck in the northern polar regions and of an account he comes to believe of a mysterious island near the North Pole, the waiting place for dead souls before they move on to the next world. The narrator proves adept at persuading him to converse comfortably, even though she is skeptical of his story and a little impatient at the interruption.
The narrator grows increasingly interested in the people of the region and comes to look forward to meeting and befriending more of them. She meets Almira’s brother, William Blackett, and their mother, Mrs. Blackett, when Almira takes her to Green Island for a visit.
William is a fisherman and farmer who sells bait and raises sheep. Almira is critical of him, thinking that he made too little of his opportunities. He seems shy and reserved, but the narrator meets him while he is digging potatoes for their dinner, and they quickly become friends. Soon after they meet, he shows her his favorite view of the island. In the afternoon, Almira takes the narrator to her favorite place, where the best pennyroyal grows, and confides more about her relationship with her husband, Nathan, and his early death. She thinks him the best of husbands and was sorry to lose him so soon, but she is consoled that he died before discovering that she loved another more.
Before leaving the island, the narrator learns that Mrs. Blackett has a golden gift for making friends that few people possess, “so that they make a part of one’s own life that can never be forgotten.” In one brief visit, the narrator forms a deep and lasting friendship with Mrs. Blackett. They communicate intimately and silently when Mrs. Blackett shows the narrator her favorite place, the view from her rocking chair.
Soon after the visit to Green Island, Susan Fosdick, a childhood friend who lives to circulate news, comes to stay with Almira. It becomes clear that the two guests will get along well, and the conversation becomes intimate, finally turning to the story of Joanna Todd, Almira’s cousin by marriage. “Poor Joanna” came to believe that God would never forgive her for having blamed him when her fiancé deserted her. She isolated herself from the community on Shell-heap Island, a place that is difficult to reach, but the community watched over her. The narrator sees an image of herself in Joanna’s chosen isolation. Not long after hearing the story, the narrator visits Joanna’s grave on the island.
The high point of the summer is the reunion of the Bowden family, of which Mrs. Blackett is the matriarch. Almira, the narrator, and Mrs. Blackett drive a wagon to the reunion, making short visits at several houses along the way. The reunion brings together many members of the family who see one another no more than once a year, allowing them a short time to express their affection and concern for one another. The reunion includes a grand march of the families across a field and into a grove where they enjoy a great outdoor feast and a few ceremonies. The narrator succeeds so well during the summer in becoming a part of the community that she is made an honorary Bowden by Almira and Mrs. Blackett. The narrator feels that she becomes a member of a new family and that this family represents all of history’s families. As the summer draws to a close, the narrator gets to know another of the reticent old sea captains, Elijah Tilley. Having learned how to relate to these people, the narrator is more at ease with him than with Captain Littlepage as she draws out the story of his persisting grief for his long-dead wife.
When it is time for the narrator to return to the city, Almira’s feelings are so strong that she cannot bear to prolong her farewell. She leaves the narrator parting gifts to show those feelings. Among the gifts is the coral pin that Almira’s husband brought home for his cousin Joanna, who refused to accept it. Steaming away from Dunnet Landing, the narrator reflects on the rich life of the village as she looks back with love.
Bibliography
Blanchard, Paula. Sarah Orne Jewett: Her World and Her Work. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994. Print.
Cary, Richard, ed. Appreciation of Sarah Orne Jewett: Twenty-nine Interpretive Essays. Waterville, ME: Colby College P, 1973. Print.
Church, Joseph. Transcendent Daughters in Jewett’s Country of the Pointed Firs. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1994. Print.
Donovan, Josephine. Sarah Orne Jewett. Christchurch, NZ: Cybereditions, 2001. Print.
Ensor, Sarah. "Spinster Ecology: Rachel Carson, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Nonreproductive Futurity." American Literature 84.2 (2012): 409–35. Print.
Gale, Robert L. A Sarah Orne Jewett Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999. Print.
Gleason, Patrick. "Sarah Orne Jewett's 'The Foreigner' and the Transamerican Routes of New England Regionalism." Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers 28.1 (2011): 24–46. Print.
Howard, June, ed. New Essays on The Country of the Pointed Firs. New York: Cambridge UP, 1994. Print.
Jewett, Sarah Orne. An Edited Edition of Sarah Orne Jewett’s The Country of the Pointed Firs. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 2003. Print.
Joseph, Philip. “The Artist Meets the Rural Community: Hamlin Garland, Sarah Orne Jewett, and the Writing of 1890s Regionalism.” American Literary Regionalism in a Global Age. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2007. 23–50. Print.
Morgan, Jeff. Sarah Orne Jewett’s Feminine Pastoral Vision: The Country of the Pointed Firs. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 2002. Print.
Nagel, Gwen L., ed. Critical Essays on Sarah Orne Jewett. Boston: GK Hall, 1984. Print.
Roman, Margaret. Sarah Orne Jewett: Reconstructing Gender. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 1992. Print.
Sherman, Sarah Way. Sarah Orne Jewett: An American Persephone. Hanover, NH: UP of New England, 1989. Print.
Shively, Steven B. "Seeking the 'Quiet Centre of Life': Cather Replies to Sarah Orne Jewett." Willa Cather Newsletter and Review 56.2 (2013): 13–15. Print.