Sarah, Plain and Tall

“‘Maybe,’ he said, his voice low, ‘if you remember the songs, then I might remember her, too.’”

Caleb Whiting has no memory of his mother, so Anna bears the burden of relating all she knows about her to him. This quote establishes the motif of singing. For Caleb, a house full of music and song feels safe, and here he associates the loss of singing with the loss of his mother.

“‘No […] Not a housekeeper.’ He paused. ‘A wife.’”

Jacob Whiting reveals he has placed an ad in the newspaper for a wife. The quote clarifies that Jacob is not just looking for someone to cook his meals and raise his children: He desires a partner and someone with whom he can share his life, Suggesting the depths of his loneliness and sadness in the wake of his wife’s death.

“I do not know if I snore. Seal has never told me.”

Sarah Wheaton is candid about herself in her letters to the children. Here she graciously answers Caleb’s question about whether she snores. Her answer reveals her sense of humor, as Seal, being a cat, could of course not tell Sarah anything.

“He kept the letter with him, reading it in the barn and the fields and by the cow pond. And always in bed at night.”

Caleb’s need for a motherly figure in his life reflects A Child’s Desire for Security and Stability. Though Anna watches out for him, she is a child herself and cannot fill a parental role. Caleb treasures Sarah’s letters and takes comfort in the hope that she will become his mother.

“Sarah came in the spring. She came through the green grass fields that bloomed with Indian paintbrush, red and orange, and blue-eyed grass.”

Spring is the season of new beginnings in nature, and Sarah’s arrival symbolizes The Beauty of New Beginnings for her and the Whiting family. The author mentions specific flora and fauna of the prairie land, including Castilleja, also known as “Indian paintbrush” or “prairie fire.” I plant’s nickname relates to its ties to the Indigenous people who first inhabited the land: The Blackfoot tribe’s oral tradition includes a tale about the fiery red plant.

“Far off in a field a woodchuck ate and listened. Ate and listened.”

Animals, both domestic and wild, are an important part of homesteading life. Woodchucks are curious creatures, and the author anthropomorphizes the animal, as if it too were awaiting Sarah’s arrival. The repetition emphasizes the tension of the moment.

“She will be good in the house, too.”

Jacob suggests Seal will be good for keeping mice out of the barn, but Sarah quickly notes that Seal is a housecat. Sarah thus asserts her independence before even entering the house. The fact that she keeps a cat as a pet rather than a working animal is one of many ways Sarah differs from the Whitings, but they quickly grow to love Seal just as she does.

“There is no sea here. But the land rolls a little like the sea.”

The sea becomes a focal point of the narrative as Caleb incessantly questions Sarah about it. The prairie is far from the rocky coast of the ocean, which Caleb has never seen. For Sarah, the sea represents her home and her memories, but she tries to describe it in terms Caleb understands, noting the way the horizon appears to roll like waves.

“‘The roses will bloom in early summer’ […] I looked to see if she knew what I was thinking.”

Roses symbolize love, and summer represents a time of fruitfulness. Anna hopes that Sarah will still be with them to see the roses bloom, but she also hopes the summer will bring her father and Sarah’s wedding.

“Caleb whooped. He made up a song.”

Caleb is the first to sing again after Sarah takes the children to pick flowers. His spontaneous song embodies his innocence and his interest in language. It also represents an overflow of his joy about spending time with Sarah.

“He said it ‘soomer,’ the way Sarah had said it.”

Sarah speaks in a New England dialect that is different from the Whitings’ midwestern style of speech. On several occasions, the family adopts her words or pronunciations to represent their acceptance of Sarah’s culture.

“At last Papa slid down, too, as the sky grew darker and the stars blinked like fireflies.”

The author uses figurative language to describe the night sky and show the characters Finding Comfort and Connection in Nature. The wide-open prairie offers optimal views of the Milky Way. The vision enchants Anna, and she is at peace with Sarah being in their home.

“He said nothing but his mouth formed the word I had heard, too. Our dune.”

Caleb becomes fixated on Sarah’s language as he searches for signs regarding whether she will stay or leave. Jacob creates the hay dune and thus an experience for the family and Sarah to share. When Caleb hears Sarah refer to it as theirs, it is a sign to him that she sees herself as part of the family.

“‘Wind and wind and wind!’ Caleb stood up and ran like the wind.”

The scene illustrates Caleb’s playful, innocent nature. He uses repetition of a word and body movements to pretend to be the wind blowing through the prairie. Caleb worries that his enthusiastic personality is too much for Sarah, but she enjoys his playful nature.

“I slept, dreaming a perfect dream. The fields had turned to a sea that gleamed like sun on glass.”

After their swimming lesson, Sarah and the children rest contentedly on the pond’s bank. Anna dreams of the prairie turning to the ocean, reflecting her wish for Sarah to love the flat land the same as the craggy coast she called home.

“The dandelions in the fields had gone by, their heads soft as feathers.”

Dandelions produce a cottony top easily blown away into the wind. The author uses figurative language to give the reader a sensory perception of the dandelion. The scattering of the plant’s seeds also signals the changing of the seasons—an important motif that relates to the characters’ new beginning with one another.

“Do not miss the hills. Do not miss the sea.”

As Anna listens to Maggie empathize with Sarah’s homesickness, the novel foregrounds her thought process. She silently begs the women not to miss their previous homes because while she has tried to prevent herself from growing attached to Sarah, Anna has come to see her as an indispensable part of her family’s life.

“You must have a garden. Wherever you are.”

Maggie’s encouragement to Sarah to put down roots, both physically and metaphorically, marks a turning point in the story. Having a garden gives Sarah a project of her own and something in which she can delight. Caring for flowers takes time, at least if one wants to see the entire germination and blooming process, so planting the garden is like a promise to stay.

“‘Women don’t wear overalls,’ said Caleb […] ‘This woman does,’ said Sarah crisply.”

Caleb’s protest against Sarah’s clothes reflects the period’s gender norms; it was not socially acceptable for a woman to wear pants. Through her choice of clothes, Sarah asserts her independence and displays her industrious personality. She desires to be seen as an equal to Jacob.

“A soft rumble of thunder sounded. Papa looked up at the clouds.”

The building storm clouds mirror the increased tension as Sarah’s demands of Jacob threaten to spark their first argument. Having lived for a long time on the prairie, Jacob knows how to read the weather. He now must learn to read the emotional cues signaling conflict with his potential wife.

“The grasses flattened. There was a hiss of wind, a sudden pungent smell.”

The author employs sensory details to give the reader a sense of how it feels as a storm bears down on the homestead. By personifying the wind as “hissing,” the author makes the storm feel sinister and malevolent.

“And the wild roses were scattered on the ground, as if a wedding had come and gone there.”

The family emerges from the storm intact, but the roses Jacob gifted Sarah do not survive. While this might seem an ominous sign, Anna hopes that enduring the storm together has solidified their bond and that the scattered petals are a sign of good things to come—specifically, a wedding, where a flower girl scatters petals.

“‘For Anna, […] And Caleb. For all of us.’”

Sarah returns with three pencils colored like the sea. The pencils represent her love of art and her home near the sea. By stating that they are not just for her, she communicates her desire to stay and share her love of the sea with the family.