So Big

Selina is hired by the Dutch school at High Prairie, a farming community 10 miles outside Chicago with connections to August Hempel. She is paid $30 a month and will live in the house of Klaas Pool, a farmer and the head of a family. During this time, the Hempel business is rapidly expanding, and August is on his way to becoming a millionaire. Selina sells one of her father’s diamonds and keeps the other. On the way to High Prairie, the rural community reminds her of old stories such as Sleepy Hollow. It is populated, she believes, by “sturdy, phlegmatic, industrious farmers” (11), most of whom have Dutch heritage. Klaas Pool escorts Selina to his home. As they ride in his carriage, Selina comments on the beauty of their surroundings. The ponderous, sincere Klaas is amused that someone could find cabbages beautiful. He repeats the phrase “cabbages is beautiful” (12) to himself, chuckling. Selina refuses to be offended by his response. She is determined to live her life as an adventure; her new career in High Prairie is the first step on this adventure. As they ride, Selina asks Klaas about his children. His two daughters, Geertje and Jozina, he says, will attend Selina’s school with the other children from the community. His son Roelf is now old enough to work on the farm, Klaas explains, so he will not attend the classes even though he is still just 12. Selina is surprised but determined to enjoy her experience.

The Pool house is “a typical High Prairie farm” (15). Inside, Selina meets Maartje Pool, Klaas’s wife. Maartje works tirelessly for her family, and Selina is at first taken aback by her rough, tired appearance. As Maartje welcomes Selina inside, Selina notices “two pigtailed heads” (16) belonging to Geertje and Jozina. The girls hide and giggle with one another. Maartje shows Selina her new bedroom. Inside the cold room is a large bed, an antique wedding chest, and a metal drum stove that is designed to heat the room but rarely functions. Maartje shows Selina the contents of the beautifully carved wedding chest, which has been passed down in her family for 200 years. Inside is her wedding gown, as well as her bridal cap and shoes. Should Selina marry a High Prairie Dutchman, Maartje jokes, then she may wear the outfit. They are interrupted by a call from Klaas, who is hungry and wants his dinner. Elsewhere in the house, Selina meets the gnomelike Jakob Hoogendunk, who helps on the farm. Alone in the room, Selina unpacks her trunk. She does not have many possessions, but she did spend money on a “wine-colored cashmere” (20). Spreading the cashmere on the bed, she feels more at home. She descends the stairs to dinner. As they often do, the family is eating pork. The array of fresh vegetables grown on the farm, Selina is surprised to learn, are rarely served at the table. Such produce must be sold rather than eaten. At the meal, Selina meets Roelf, a “dark, handsome sullen boy” (21). After the coarse meal, Jakob and Klaas fall into conversation about the farm. Selina surprises everyone by asking questions. Her “audacious female” (23) behavior shocks the conservative family. With Klaas and Jakob seemingly unable to respond to her question about fertilizer, Roelf plucks a book from the shelf and gives her the information she wants to know. Fertilizer, she learns, is made from nitrate of soda, ammonium sulfate, and dried blood. Feeling embarrassed, Selina retreats to her cold bedroom. As she prepares for bed, she discovers that Roelf has been reading the dictionary. Shocked that someone would read a dictionary, she resolves to acquire much more interesting books for the introspective youngster. As he brings her warm water to heat her room, Roelf confides in Selina that he too finds the cabbages to be beautiful. Much to her surprise, Selina falls asleep quickly, thinking about fields fertilized with dried blood. She wakes up to the smell of bacon. Her room is terribly cold.

November is Selina’s first month in High Prairie. Her days soon settle into a familiar pattern as she battles the cold. She refuses to conform to local behaviors, such as dressing in front of the kitchen stove, and she grows to hate the metal drum stove in her bedroom for its abject failure to heat her room. With chalk from her schoolroom, she draws a demon’s face on the drum. The schoolroom is also very cold, and Selina faces a daily battle to light the fire in the stove before the children arrive. In the Pool house, she is determined to “woo [Roelf] to friendship” (29). She offers him books to read, though his father dismisses such things as “foolishness” (30). Roelf has a small wood workshop where he can express himself artistically. Klaas and the people of High Prairie have no interest in his romantic, intricate designs, however. Selina comes to realize that Roelf is “different” (30) from those around him. He reads her books quickly and tells Selina about his plans to become a successful artist. One day, Selina accompanies Klaas into Chicago. While he sells his produce, Selina tries to visit Julie, but Julie’s mother turns her away, saying that Julie is not at home. Selina dines alone, determined to enjoy herself. She is surprised at how happy she is to return to the warm stove in the Pool kitchen.