The Downward Path to Wisdom by Katherine Anne Porter
"The Downward Path to Wisdom" by Katherine Anne Porter explores the tumultuous life of a young boy named Stephen, who experiences instability within his chaotic family. After a fierce argument between his parents, Stephen is sent to live with his grandmother, where he begins to form connections, particularly with his Uncle David, who introduces him to playful activities like roughhousing and balloon games. As Stephen starts school, he encounters peers who expand his understanding of social dynamics, contrasting with the titles he uses for his family members. However, his attempts to fit in lead to embarrassment, especially when he tries to impress a girl named Frances. His yearning for acceptance leads him to steal ingredients to create lemonade for their play, ultimately resulting in further conflict among the adults. The story concludes with Stephen's internal turmoil as he grapples with feelings of anger toward his family, while leaving out the only name he cherishes—Frances. The narrative offers a poignant look at childhood innocence amidst familial discord, revealing the complexities of social interactions and emotional struggles.
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The Downward Path to Wisdom by Katherine Anne Porter
First published: 1944
Type of plot: Domestic realism
Time of work: The 1940's
Locale: A city in the southern United States
Principal Characters:
Stephen , a four-year-old boy in an unhappy familyMama , his motherPapa , his father, who is considered "mean" and unsuitable by his wife's familyGrandma , his mother's motherMarjory , a family servant who shows him little affectionOld Janet , a servant who works for GrandmaUncle David , Mama's brother, a bully who believes that Stephen needs stronger disciplineFrances , a girl whom Stephen meets at school
The Story
Four-year-old Stephen lives in a chaotic household. The story begins as Papa accuses Mama of spoiling the boy, whom she brusquely pushes from their bedroom. Their servant Marjory calls Stephen "dirty" and "mean" like his father. Soon the family quarreling becomes so severe that Stephen is sent to live with his grandmother.
At Grandma's house, Stephen gets to know his Uncle David, a large man who roughhouses with him and teaches him to box. One day, Uncle David brings home a large box of advertising balloons that he and Stephen share in a game to see who can blow up the balloons and burst them the fastest.
When the summer ends, Grandma enrolls Stephen in school, where he is surprised to discover people who are mostly his size. He is delighted to learn that these other children have ordinary names such as "Frances" and "Edward," instead of titles such as "Grandma," "Uncle," and "Mommanpoppa"—the only people he has known during his short life. There he discovers that his name is "Stephen," not "Baby" as his mother calls him, or "Bad Boy" as he is known by the household servants.
At first, Stephen has great fun in school, but he soon becomes embarrassed when other children make fun of his dancing and his clay cat sculpture. He is particularly eager to impress a girl named Frances and is happy when she accepts two of Uncle David's balloons. That same afternoon, he climbs up on a chair to take down the box of balloons that Uncle David has hidden out of reach. After filling his pockets with balloons, he gives them away at school the next day, thereby increasing his popularity.
On Saturday, Frances visits Stephen and the two of them begin blowing up balloons. When Frances grows bored with this game, she suggests that they buy sticks of licorice to make "liquish water." Embarrassed when he realizes that he has already spent all of his money, Stephen fears losing favor with Frances. He sneaks into the pantry to steal sugar, ice, and lemon juice, which he mixes together in a china teapot, trying to make lemonade as adults do. Knowing that they have broken rules, Stephen and Frances carry the teapot to the back of the house, where they hide behind a rosebush to drink the lemonade.
When Grandma's servant Old Janet finds the pantry in disarray, she sends Frances home and tells Stephen's grandmother what the children have done. As she tells her story, Uncle David finds that his box of balloons is almost half empty. He accuses Stephen of a double theft and says that the entire affair is the fault of Stephen's father. Concluding that Stephen is incorrigible, Grandma and Uncle David order his mother to take him home.
When Stephen's mother arrives to collect him, the three adults get into an argument in which each blames the others for Stephen's problems and dredges up accusations of nearly forgotten wrongs. When Stephen leaves the house with his mother, he indicates his reluctance to see his father again. As his mother drives him home, Stephen sings himself to sleep, quietly expressing his hatred for all those around him: "I hate Papa, I hate Mama, I hate Grandma, I hate Uncle David, I hate Old Janet, I hate Marjory, I hate Papa, I hate Mama." Only Frances' name is missing from Stephen's litany of anger. Exhausted, he falls asleep, resting his head on his mother's knee.
Bibliography
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Bloom, Harold, ed. Katherine Anne Porter: Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House, 1986.
Brinkmeyer, Robert H. Katherine Anne Porter's Artistic Development: Primitivism, Traditionalism, and Totalitarianism. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993.
Busby, Mark, and Dick Heaberlin, eds. From Texas to the World and Back: Essays on the Journeys of Katherine Anne Porter. Fort Worth: TCU Press, 2001.
Fornataro-Neil, M. K. "Constructed Narratives and Writing Identity in the Fiction of Katherine Anne Porter." Twentieth Century Literature 44 (Fall, 1998): 349-361.
Givner, Joan. Katherine Anne Porter: A Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982.
Hartley, Lodwick, and George Core, eds. Katherine Anne Porter: A Critical Symposium. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1969.
Spencer, Virginia, ed."Flowering Judas": Katherine Anne Porter. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1993.
Stout, Janis. Katherine Anne Porter: A Sense of the Times. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995.
Walsh, Thomas F. Katherine Anne Porter and Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992.