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Critical Review of The Little House on the Prairie

“The Little House on the Prairie” is a children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The story talks about the author who lives in a family, consisting of Pa, Ma, Laura, Mary, and Baby Carrie, that are moving into Indian Country. They begin by building a new comfy log house and all the different necessities. Pa helps with the cowboys and receives a cow as a gift. As the family settles in their new home, they are forced to move out because the government forbids white settlers to settle on Indian Country. So, the family packs up and leaves unwillingly. The story mainly talks about family and challenging during the settlements.


During the time when white people move into Indian territory, conflicts could arouse between the Indians and the whites. People face challenges as they migrate westward into the American frontier. Laura’s family moves to Indian Country because her father does not like places that have a lot of people. Laura considers her family as settlers and pioneers. But they are not the first people to settle there. The Indians live there long before anybody else came. During the 1800s, farmers and many others are migrating westwards. The result of the white settlers moving in will cause conflicts with the Indians. Due to these conflicts, the Indians are going to war. Usually, the Indians are kicked out of their homes, but at the end of the story, the white settlers are kicked out because the land has not been opened for settlements yet. American pioneers and settlers face challenging problems as they move westward and establish their residences.


Settlers face many challenges as they move into an unfamiliar environment. As Laura’s family build their new home in the Indian Country, they have to persevere with the dangers. For example, the family has to stay safe from a big wolf pack, which surrounds their home once. The family also build the different necessities they need to do, for instance, building a well, but there are still dangers. Laura’s father always lowers a candle down into the well, but Mr. Scott sees no need to doing that. One day, Mr. Scott fainted before lowering down the candle. Additionally, the family’s roof went on fire, but luckily, they are able to extinguish the fire. Furthermore, the entire family is ill from the fever ‘n’ ague, also known as malaria. Fortunately, they recover from the disease. Pioneers have to face multiple hardships during their settlement.


Positive family relationship occurs numerous times in the story. Laura’s family shows many examples of family relationship. When the family is moving to a different location to call home, it isn’t just one member of the family go and find it. The entire family follows to find a new residential area. Additionally, Laura’s father shows care for Laura’s mother. He builds a fireplace for Laura’s mother so that she wouldn’t have to cook food outside. Furthermore, Laura’s father constructs a house for his family to live in so that they wouldn’t have to live in a wagon. Moreover, family always help each other. Laura and Mary help their mother cook food for dinner and clean the dishes. Having a healthy family relationship is both essential and beneficial for a well-functioning family.


To encapsulate, “The Little House on the Prairie” is a children’s novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The story explains many key details of pioneers and settlements. Most of the time, pioneers will have to tolerate the dangers of settling in an unknown environment. For instance, living in the wilderness with perilous creatures skulking around. Family relationships is both crucial and beneficial for individuals to conquer the adversities. “The Little House on the Prairie” is both intriguing and entertaining to read.

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