The Big Rock Candy Mountain (novel)

Last updated February 27, 2019

First edition cover BigRockCandyMountain.jpg — First edition cover

The Big Rock Candy Mountain is a 1943 semi-autobiographical novel by American writer Wallace Stegner. It follows the life of the Mason family (Bo and Elsa with their sons Chester and Bruce) during the early 20th century in the United States and Canada. The book is structured in ten sections.

An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Because an autobiographical novel is partially fiction, the author does not ask the reader to expect the text to fulfill the "autobiographical pact". Names and locations are often changed and events are recreated to make them more dramatic but the story still bears a close resemblance to that of the author's life. While the events of the author's life are recounted, there is no pretense of exact truth. Events may be exaggerated or altered for artistic or thematic purposes.

Wallace Earle Stegner was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book Award in 1977.

The fictional family in the book, like Stegner's family during his childhood, frequently moves to different cities in pursuit of various financial schemes that never work out. The novel also matches Stegner's family history in some of the specific locations lived, including Saskatchewan and Salt Lake City. The novel is named after the folk song "Big Rock Candy Mountain", which is about a mythical paradise.^[1]

Saskatchewan is a prairie and boreal province in western Canada, the only province without a natural border. It has an area of 651,900 square kilometres (251,700 sq mi), nearly 10 percent of which is fresh water, composed mostly of rivers, reservoirs, and the province's 100,000 lakes.

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous municipality of the U.S. state of Utah. With an estimated population of 190,884 in 2014, the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a population of 1,153,340. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area. This region is a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along an approximately 120-mile (190 km) segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,423,912 as of 2014. It is one of only two major urban areas in the Great Basin.

"Big Rock Candy Mountain", first recorded by Harry McClintock in 1928, is a folk song about a hobo's idea of paradise, a modern version of the medieval concept of Cockaigne. It is a place where "hens lay soft boiled eggs" and there are "cigarette trees." McClintock claimed to have written the song in 1895, based on tales from his youth hoboing through the United States, but some believe that at least aspects of the song have existed for far longer. It is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 6696.

Plot summary

Section I

Elsa leaves her family home after breaking with her widowed father when he becomes remarried to Elsa's best friend. She moves to North Dakota where she meets Bo Mason, who runs an illegal saloon or blind pig. Despite being disturbed by Bo's sometimes violent behavior, Elsa strikes up a romantic relationship with him. Against her father's advice, she becomes engaged to Bo.

North Dakota is a U.S. state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. It is the nineteenth largest in area, the fourth smallest by population, and the fourth most sparsely populated of the 50 states. North Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, along with its neighboring state, South Dakota. Its capital is Bismarck, and its largest city is Fargo.

Section II

The Masons try unsuccessfully to run a hotel, with sons Chester and Bruce now in early childhood. Bo's relationship with Bruce becomes increasingly abusive, especially around issues of toilet training. After an especially strong outburst of violence against Bruce, Bo abandons his family.

Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or workplace aggression. Alternative terms sometimes used include physical assault or physical violence, and may also include sexual abuse. Physical abuse may involve more than one abuser, and more than one victim.

Toilet training, or potty training, is the process of training someone, particularly a young child, to use the toilet for urination and defecation, though training may start with a smaller toilet bowl-shaped device. Cultural factors play a large part in what age is deemed appropriate, with the expectation for being potty trained ranging from 12 months for some tribes in Africa to 36 months in the modern United States. Most children can control their bowel before their bladder, boys typically start and finish later than girls, and it usually takes boys longer to learn to stay dry throughout the night, however it depends on the maturity and consistency of the particular child.

Section III

Bo has begun to establish a relatively stable life for himself running a bunkhouse in Saskatchewan. In the meantime, Elsa moves back in with her father after her son Chester gets in trouble for engaging in sexual play with a girl in the orphanage he attends. After returning home, Elsa considers getting a divorce and marrying a former suitor, but eventually she accepts Bo's offer of reconciliation.

Divorce, also known as dissolution of marriage, is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. It usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state. Divorce laws vary considerably around the world, but in most countries divorce requires the sanction of a court or other authority in a legal process, which may involve issues of distribution of property, child custody, alimony, child visitation / access, parenting time, child support, and division of debt. In most countries, monogamy is required by law, so divorce allows each former partner to marry another person; where polygyny is legal but polyandry is not, divorce allows the woman to marry another person.

Section IV

This short section of the book is told from the perspective of Bruce. The family spends an idyllic summer at their homestead. Also, Bruce begins to regain memories of the abuses he suffered in infancy.

A homestead is a dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station.

Section V

The 1918 flu epidemic has arrived. Down on his luck, Bo realizes that because of the flu epidemic he stands to make a small fortune if he begins bootlegging whisky to Canada, due to the perceived medicinal benefits of alcohol. While Bo is away in the United States purchasing whisky, the flu epidemic hits his home town and eventually Chester is forced to guard the family homestead himself while all the other family members are sick.

Section VI

It is now the Prohibition Era. Bo has supported his family for several years by bootlegging, but eventually the family decides to leave the small Canadian town they live in on the Canada/Montana border after Bo is arrested for bootlegging on the same day his son, Chester, is arrested for arson.

Section VII

The family is now living in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Chester Mason is about to graduate from high school. His parents attempt to steer him away from his romance with an older girl, Laura, and into a promising career as a baseball player. However, when the Masons' house is raided by the police, Chester quits his baseball job and elopes with Laura.

Section VIII

Bruce's study at law school is interrupted when he learns that Chester has died. In addition, his mother's cancer is worsening, and eventually Bruce returns to his family for his mother's sake.

Section IX

Elsa Mason dies of cancer, and a rift subsequently develops between Bo and Bruce Mason, during which Bruce considers murdering his father.

Section X

This section is told first from the perspective of Bo Mason, who is now an aging widower in Salt Lake City, oppressed by frequent feelings of self-hatred. Eventually Bo kills himself after murdering a former lover. Bruce then attempts to look back on the tumultuous history of his family and try to come to terms with his role as the sole survivor.

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References

↑ William H. Honan, "Wallace Stegner Is Dead at 84; Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author," New York Times, April 15, 1993.

External links

The Big Rock Candy Mountain Study Guide

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[nyt_obit-1] William H. Honan, "Wallace Stegner Is Dead at 84; Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author," New York Times, April 15, 1993.