I have been thinking about what distinguishes a good author from a great author. At Burr Oak, I was given a chance to peruse Laura's handwritten draft of a book about her life there. She wrote this before any of her published books. Laura is a good storyteller, although she depends on non-evocative adjectives to describe how things felt ("cold," "hard," etc.) What I think Rose contributed most to her writing is using descriptions of what people did to combat the cold, rather than mere use of adjectives, to help draw the reader in to her world. Rose is much more of a literary stylist, and I think her intense editing helped to make these stories exciting and inspirational.
There is more to being a great author than telling good stories. I don't know what all the aspects of being a great author are, but I find that the greatest have a prophetic element in their writing. In this sense, "prophetic" means calling into question the assumptions of the status quo to point to a deeper, more authentic understanding.
Even though prophets are not necessarily insubordinate, they must occasionally find themselves in conflict with the defenders of traditional dogma, at least to the extent that they are understood. Socrates described himself as a gadfly whose constant irritation kept Athens from becoming philosophically complacent. As would be expected, they made Socrates swallow poison. Jesus of Nazareth said, "Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplace and have the best seats in the synagogue and the places of honor at feasts." We all know what happened to Jesus.
Of course, when the defenders see the popularity of these prophets, they try to claim their teachings as their own. How long was it before the scribes in long robes were the people who were promoting Christianity and not persecuting it? What is hardest to control is that often the actual words of the prophetic writers are preserved, and they can be silenced only by destroying their writings or keeping people from reading them. In part, this is why I am so excited about the emphasis on primary documents promoted by the Great Books schools.
Therefore, the final question is, do the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder serve a prophetic role, a palliative role, or a combination of both? I think that Laura (I am using her first name to follow the practice of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Society) is largely a writer of fiction for children who tends to avoid difficult questions, often even trying to tell the story in such a way that it minimizes the fact that there are serious issues underlying the events she describes: the morality of occupying land acquired through force, relying on free land while criticizing government handouts, etc. Laura often seems aware of some of these problems, but doesn't want us to focus on problematic aspects of history. Her writings clearly are sentimental, in the sense of portraying a past that was more pure and simple than today.
All of these museums emphasize this role of Laura's writing. Every official museum has a cut-out of a scene from one of the books with a sign that says, "Come Home to Little House." The lessons we are supposed to draw from Laura's life are that faith and hard work are what makes a good life. I do think it is possible to say that her writings have a certain type of prophetic significance, as her emphasis on simplicity counters the theme of self-indulgence that has become a controlling theme of our culture. On the other hand, the way that her legacy is preserved is as someone whose message is more comforting than challenging. Indeed, the stores set up at every site are really temples of the consumer culture.
The sites differ quite a bit on the degree to which they emphasize the libertarian sentiments of the Wilders. The De Smet site has a room set up with furniture and office equipment once owned by Rose, and there is a clear description of her strident patriotism. It tells the story of a time that she kicked a Latvian salesman, who was closing a sale with her roommate, out of the house for saying that he had a hard time making a living in this country. It also said she had outspoken political views. None of the sites say anything about Laura and Almanzo's politics, although they all sell books that describe it quite well.
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