海角大神

As a college professor who teaches in a prison, I wondered: Could "The Yearling" 鈥� written by a white woman, published in 1938, and full of planting and plowing 鈥� somehow hold the attention of inmates striving for three credits that might someday transfer to a community college transcript?聽

Employing the 1947 movie adaptation, I 鈥減reviewed鈥� the book for the inmates who had enrolled in the English Composition course that I teach in a Connecticut prison. My student-inmates rightly gauged 鈥淭he Yearling鈥� to be very 鈥渨hite鈥� 鈥� 鈥渞edneck white.鈥� Our class, however, mirroring the populations of many US prisons, is very non-white.聽聽

Set on a Florida bayou (scrub country) farm in the 1870s, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings鈥� novel is far removed residentially, racially, and atmospherically from the neighborhoods where most of my students grew up. The dad (Pa, Penny Baxter) is a kind of 鈥渁lien,鈥� very different in tone and temperament from many of the men they grew up with. But although the book was not an obvious choice, I discovered that a good number of copies could be purchased on the cheap at library book sales and used-book shops. The economics were compelling and so I went with it.

After the video preview, my students were quick to admit that the book had some 鈥渃red.鈥澛�

鈥淭he Yearling鈥� was the main selection of the Book of the Month Club in April 1938. It was the best-selling novel in America in 1938. And it won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.聽聽

Still, I felt skeptical. How could I deliver the unvarnished tolerant wisdom of "Penny" Baxter, the novel's gentle father figure, to my students?聽聽

Many of the inmates were fans of sports-talk call-in shows, so the assignment I gave them was to pick passages from the novel that could be fashioned into a script 鈥� a script that would feature key father-son moments along with accounts of conflict resolution.聽聽

We went on to imagine how a program director might incorporate those passages into a syndicated radio call-in show that would offer advice to fathers everywhere.

Here are a few 鈥渢akes鈥� from our script:聽

Announcer: Welcome to "Pa Baxter鈥檚 Fatherly Phrasings" 鈥� the radio call-in show that鈥檚 upbeat, down-home, and all heart.... Today鈥檚 special broadcast is brought to you by Yearling Enterprises 鈥� for 75 years a name you can trust for corn pone, sweet-potato-pone pie, sandbugger biscuits, poke-green grit dip, and sawgrass salad dressing.聽 Funding for today鈥檚 broadcast also comes from a special underwriting grant from Doggone Dogs First-Aid Cooperative & Canine Vittles Emporium. The opinions, adages, and aphorisms of our host, Ezra Ezekial "Penny" Baxter, are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of.... And now, without further ado, your host, direct from our Baxter Island broadcast studios by Lake George, Florida, hee-rrre's Penny! [applause闭听

Baxter:聽 Thank you, Lem. And a right good mornin鈥� to you all. Let鈥檚 go right to the phones.... Hello, you鈥檙e on the air.

Caller #1:聽 Penny, my boy go a-ramblin鈥� all the time, gallavantin鈥�... forgettin鈥� all 鈥檅out the chores he鈥檚 s鈥檖osed to do. And he鈥檚 mighty sly 鈥檅out gettin鈥� 鈥檞ay with it.聽 What are we to do?鈥�

Baxter: Sounds mighty familiar. My boy, Jody, was always off frolicking when he should鈥檃 been hoeing and weedin鈥�... His Ma used to say that our boy was gittin鈥� slick as a clay road in the rain.

Caller # 1: But how鈥檇 you handle it, Penny?

Baxter: His Ma don鈥� hold with ramblin鈥�. So I cover fer 鈥檌m but then I tells him he鈥檚 got to fess up. I says, "Tell the truth, Jody, and shame the devil."... But I makes it clear that he got to do his chores, all his chores.聽

Caller #2:聽 Mornin鈥� Penny. First-time caller, long-time listener.聽

Baxter:聽 Good mornin鈥� to you. How're you today?

Caller #2:聽 Ahm ah-troubled. My boy got into a fight ta otha day an鈥� I ain鈥� know what to tell um 鈥檅out fightin鈥�. Seems to me that ta-other guy had it comin鈥� 鈥檆ause he dun stole stock we bin raisin鈥� for food dis comin鈥� winter. My boy sees how it bin dun, and know鈥檇 who dun it. Those no-counts who dun it don鈥� need our meat.聽 They git plenty of their own, lot鈥檚 more 鈥檃n us. I 鈥檚pect they jus鈥� itchin鈥� for a fight.聽 What鈥檚 a Pa ta do?

Baxter:聽 Dogged if I kin understand cold-out meanness....

Caller #2:聽 An鈥� what would you tell 鈥檌m 鈥檅out goin鈥� inta a fight if 鈥檈n a friend ah-his-n is plumb in the middle? Does I tell-um ta steer clear ah the roockus?

Baxter:聽 Well, if his friend is takin鈥� a lickin鈥� 鈥� gittin鈥� the wust of it 鈥� he might set about evenin鈥� things up a bit. 'Twer otherwise if 鈥檈n his friend were doin鈥� all the punishin鈥�. Generally speakin鈥�, though, when one man鈥檚 on-reasonable, t鈥檕ther has got to keep his head. Speakin鈥� a鈥� losin鈥� yer head. I plumb disremembered that I got tu put in a good word for our sponsors.... After trackin鈥�, or plowin鈥�, tain鈥檛 nothin鈥� like settin鈥� down to a hot plate o鈥� swamp-cabbage stew cooked in panther oil. I, myself, am partial to the smoked squirrel en brochette. Why, the meat is so tender you could kiss it off the bone. Jody鈥檚 a'tryin鈥� the vegetarian line but when he gits hongrey, he鈥檒l wolf down gator-conk quiche and bear-paw pate.聽鈥淟et鈥檚 git back to the phones.... Hello, you鈥檙e on the air.

[The show鈥檚 final caller asks Baxter for advice about a boy who runs away because he can鈥檛 accept the discipline necessitated by a family鈥檚 misfortunes.]

Baxter:聽 I guess you hope you鈥檝e done enough to make the boy want to come back. It happened with my boy, Jody. I was able to let him see how relieved and happy I was to see him. I says to him, 鈥�"I鈥檇 be proud to know where you been." And after I hears his tale, I says, "I鈥檓 sorry you had to learn 鈥檅out starvin鈥� thataway." Then we sat by the fire and I explained to him, best I could, how every man wants life to be a fine thing 鈥� and easy 鈥� fer his kids. And I tells him, "Well, life is fine, powerful fine 鈥� but tain鈥檛 easy." I explains to him, "I wanted it to be easy fer you, easier than it was for me." I explains to him that a man鈥檚 heart aches seeing his young 'uns face the world. I told Jody that I鈥檇 be proud if he鈥檇 live on Baxter Island and farm the clearin鈥� with me. I asked him if he were willin鈥� and we shook on it. That was a very special moment for me.聽[pause] What made it possible, I think, was all what we done tu-gether, and my saying to him 鈥� so鈥檚 he understood it real good 鈥� "Boy, it鈥檚 food and drink to have you home.鈥�

The words in that final answer may have been taken from Penny Baxter, but they illustrated a state of mind that we all could admire 鈥� and even aspire to. My students did well with their project. And so, just in time for Father's Day, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lives on.

Joseph H. Cooper teaches ethics and media law courses at Quinnipiac University.聽 His 鈥淧auses and Moments鈥� columns appear at PsychologyToday.com.