Ma Was Afraid Of Indians Sparknotes

The Ingalls, whether at fault of their own or impressions from society, enter the West with preconceived prejudices against its inhabitants. This creates a variety of dynamics within the little family, as some individuals, such as Ma, look down upon the Indians, while others, such as Laura, finds fascination in the natives. It is the promise of seeing Indians, most importantly Indian’s babies, that allows Pa to secure Laura’s desire to move West. Yet there are familial influences, specifically Ma’s, that block Laura from fully embracing the Indians and having a relationship with her native neighbors. Implications teach her to distance herself from the Indians by disassociating them from humanity. However, as this essay will later discuss,

Laura’s relationship with a nonhuman character, as well as her tomboyish and nonwhite ways, still place her as a reflection of the Indians.
If Laura had been born into a different family, she may have been taught to accept the Indians for their differences; however, her family has instilled in her prejudice. While Pa may suggest their is humanity in Indians, he still holds prejudice against them and teaches these by example to his children. When the Osage left their home, “Pa said that Indian was no common trash,” (Wilder 229) implying that he thinks of other Indians as “trash.” He almost calls them “screeching dev—[ils]”, but is stopped because “Ma’s lips were pressed together and she shook a little shake of her head at Pa” (Wilder 144). She does this to protect the girls, however it is not to protect them from developing prejudice against the Indians, but rather to not get them worked up and frightened. Ma also makes several anti-Indian comments throughout the novel, such as “I don’t like Indians around underfoot” (Wilder 229) and “Oh, Charles, if they only will [fight each other]” (Wilder 298). When Laura asks when she will see a papoose, Ma responds ““Goodness! What do you want to see an Indian baby for?” (Wilder 123). Just the idea of it horrifies Ma.
This wound of prejudice festers fear in the Ingalls.

“Laura knew that Ma was afraid of Indians” (Wilder 263), and she talks about them as if they were dangerous animals that need to be removed for the safety of the civilized folks. Ma and Pa fear the unpredictable wildness in the Indians, using caution much like one would have when they stumbled upon a wild animal, and view them as savage creatures. When Laura tells Pa she thought of turning Jack loose on the Indians, he becomes very angry and afraid. He says that had she done so, Jack “would have bitten those Indians, then there would have been trouble. Bad trouble.” (Wilder 146) and killing Jack would not have been all they would do. On more than one occasion, Indians come to the Ingalls’ home and take whatever they please. The family stands back and allows the home to be ravaged, out of fear of what would happen if they drew attention to themselves by trying to intervene. The family dynamic of prejudice against, and fear of, the Indians impacts Laura’s ability to associate with the Indians. She is young and her world revolves around her family; she cannot stand against their beliefs. Therefore, she subconsciously represses the connection she shares with the

Indians.
Her family’s prejudice of the Indians leads Laura to view them as a form of entertainment; more specifically a form of animalistic entertainment. Laura’s main obsession with Indians is their babies. She asks several times “Pa, when are we going to see a papoose?” (Wilder 123). Her pleading resembles the attitude I would have when going to the Phoenix Zoo as a child. Whenever there was a new baby animal, I was so excited to go and look at the cute little creature. Laura does not want to see a “papoose” because it is a baby and babies are cute. She already has an infant in the family, and she does not show as much interest in Baby Carrie as she does in a baby Indian. She is interested in the exotic nature of the Indian baby, and treats it with the fascination of a different species’ baby. The baby Indian is not the only person Laura treats like a zoo animal. When she sees Indians for the first time, she runs into the house and hides behind a slab of wood leaning on the wall. She stares as they wander around an unnatural confinement, finding entertainment in the viewing. The slab of wood is an important barrier she believes offers her protection from the strange and dangerous creature. Laura “couldn’t help moving her head just a little, so that one eye peeped out and she could see the wild men”, but “felt safer” (Wilder 138) behind the piece of wood, which represents a fence between herself and the terrifying “animals” before her. They have black eyes, echoing other descriptions of inhuman eyes in the other creatures Laura has encountered on the prairie “” (). Wilder does not describe the communication between the two Indians as a language, but as “short, hard sounds” (140). Making a “sound” rather than speaking depicts animalistic communication between the Indians. The language barrier between the Ingalls and the Indians parallel the language barrier between humans and animals.
The Indians are portrayed as more animalistic than the Ingalls due to their vast difference in way of life compared to the white settlers. They are described as mostly naked, only wearing animal furs, and making animal-like sounds, presenting them in a physically animalistic context, and were once free to roam where they pleased. But now that the area is being colonized, they are being herded out of the way. The Ingalls observe this from their point of privileged gaze as the Indians march away towards the end of the novel. They fascinate Laura and she finally spots a “papoose.” Laura wants to possess the baby as her pet, which echoes the proslavery message Ginsberg describes in her essay “Of Babies, Beasts, and Bondage” that worked to “…sentimentalize slavery by repeated allusions to the loving bonds between humans and their pets (‘slave children are pets in the house’…” (89). She becomes very upset and emotional that she cannot have the infant, exclaiming “Oh, I want it! I want it!” and demands “Pa, get me that little Indian baby!” (Wilder 308), admitting to claim ownership over the individual. She has “the desire to catch a living creature” (Ginsberg, 95), viewing the baby as a sort of pet to be had, and acts as many children do by throwing a tantrum when she is told she can’t have it. Laura mentions several times in the text that she won’t cry because it is childish and “she knew it was shameful to cry” (Wilder 24), and doesn’t shed more than a few tears during the more intense scenes in the book. However, she is a blubbering mess, “her eyes were full of tears and sobs kept jerking out of her throat” (Wilder 310), because she can’t possess a little baby with black eyes, much like a child cries when its parents won’t let it get a dog or cat at the pet store. The portrayal of Indians in an animalistic way restates the attitudes towards slaves, attempting to “…collapse the boundaries between human and animal” (Ginsberg 91). The white settlers are attempting to draw whatever distinctions between themselves and the Indians as they can, as a weapon to manipulate them into confinement.
Laura also has qualities that can connect her to the animalistic portrayal of the Indians.

Jack the dog has the closest bond with Laura out of the Ingalls family. She shows a connection with the animal, and has a pretty good idea what his limitations are. While still traveling in the covered wagon, Laura is the only one concerned about Jack’s ability to make it across the big creek, and says, “I wish Jack could ride in the wagon, Pa”. Pa just ignores her concern and Ma says “Jack can swim, Laura, He will be all right.” (Wilder 20). But Jack was not all right! Once they cross the creek, Laura is the first to notice Jack’s absence. He was swept away by water and presumed dead by the family. When Jack does return to the family, it is Laura that first notices he is back. “She saw something. Deep in the dark beyond the firelight, two green lights were shining near the ground. They were eyes” (Wilder 33). Initially Laura is frighten, believing it is a wolf, and “the next thing she knew she was trying to hug a jumping, panting, wriggling Jack, who lapped her face and hands with his warm wet tongue.” (Wilder 34-35). When reunited with the family, the very first person Jack greets is Laura. He also chooses to “lay down close to Laura” (Wilder 36) many times. During their time on the little house on the prairie, Laura takes Jack’s feelings into account most often. She asks his forgiveness on behalf of the family when he returns after the creek incident, “you knew we didn’t mean it,

didn’t you, Jack?” (Wilder 36), suggests and pleads that he be allowed out when they visit the Indian camp, “please, can’t Jack come, too?” (Wilder 173), and “Laura tried to comfort Jack” (Wilder 133) all the times he was chained up. Laura puts her confidence in Jack’s ability to protect the family, believing “Jack’s not afraid of anything every!” (Wilder 215) and telling Mary “Jack won’t let [the Indians] hurt us. We’ll be safe if we stay close to Jack.” (Wilder 135). Laura’s strong relationship with Jack shows her ability to form connections with, and care for, animal creatures, providing reason to why she feels bound to Indians, though she treats them as animals, and wants to have an Indian’s baby to care for as a pet.
The relationship between Jack and Laura is important because it symbolizes how much of an outcast Laura is within her family. Her mother fears the Indians and any interaction with them, while Laura finds them intriguing. Mary is a good little girl that always does the right thing and puts others before herself, while Laura prefers think for herself and wants to be herself before others. Laura has no interest in the nurturing responsibility of caring for Baby Carrie. The only human family member that Laura would have the most in common with is Pa. She shares more in common with him, importantly their somewhat more positive acceptance of Indians compared to the other characters of the book, however she is a little girl and he is a grown man. Their power of their gender divide outweighs the species divide between Laura and Jack, making that Laura’s strongest relationship. This relationship sets Laura up for her ability to have a deeper connection with the Indians, in which their racial divide is outweighed by the fabricated species divide Laura and her family have created.