How we cite our quotes:
Quote #4
“You mean you know how to read already?”
“Naw. Pa wanted me to go to school, but Ma says I’m too stupid.” (11.14-15)
Prudence’s parents won’t allow her to read. Her mother doesn’t have faith in her. Why not?
Quote #5
What excuse could she make to get into her trunks today? At the bottom of one of them, she had remembered, was a little hornbook. It had been a present, brought from England by friends of her grandfather’s. It was backed by silver filigree, underlaid with red satin, and it had a small silver handle. She had never really used it; she remembered how she had astonished the visitors by reading every letter straight off, but she had cherished the gift for its delicate craftsmanship. (11.32)
Kit’s hornbook will be the means by which she teaches Prudence to read. The book reminds us what a privileged world Kit grew up in.
Quote #6
In this one thing they were all united. John loved to read out loud, and they were equally happy to listen. For all of them the days were filled with hard labor, with little enough to satisfy the hunger of their minds and spirits. The books that John shared with them had opened a window on a larger world. Perhaps each of them, listening, glimpsed through that window a private world, unknown to others. (11.71)
Though the Puritan world is a strict one, the entire family can agree that reading and books are a nice break from hard labor. Books offer an escape.