The Winter Room

The Winter Room is a 1989 young adult novel by American author Gary Paulsen. The story follows 11-year-old Eldon, who lives on a northern Minnesota farm with his family. The narrative explores Eldon’s relationship with his older brother, Wayne, and their connection to their great-uncle David. The boys grow up working on the farm all year and listening to Uncle David’s stories during the winter. The novel received the Newbery Medal Honor in 1989. 

Gary Paulsen was an acclaimed author of young adult fiction, known for his coming-of-age stories, often set in a harsh rural environment. He wrote over 200 books, as well as magazine articles, short stories, and plays. In 1997, he won the Margaret Edwards Award for his contributions to young adult literature. 

This study guide uses the 2014 eBook edition by Scholastic Inc.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide discuss animal cruelty and death, addiction, death by suicide, and child death. 

Plot Summary

Eldon, an 11-year-old boy, grows up on his family’s farm in northern Minnesota, an isolated place at the edge of a forest near Hudson Bay. He lives with his parents, his brother Wayne, his great-uncle David, and Nels, his uncle’s old friend. They all live together in a wooden house. His mother cooks and manages their scarce money, and his father executes the farm chores. Uncle David often spends time reading the Bible and books in Norwegian. The family’s life revolves around the seasonal changes that require different farming activities.

Eldon experiences each season differently. He does not consider spring a time of awakening because of the unpleasant smells around the farm. Eldon and Wayne help with the chores, but Wayne assumes more responsibilities as an older brother and as Eldon’s health is frail due to a past sickness. Apart from being brothers, Wayne and Eldon are also friends, playing together and fighting about several issues. The boys are inspired by storytelling and once pretend to be cowboys, reenacting stunts from a Western novel. 

Summer is a demanding season for the family and requires hard work on the farm. Eldon accompanies his father in plowing, watches the haying process, and climbs on the horses. Wayne labors during the summer, but he and Eldon find time to play in the barn, jumping into straw piles. At the end of the season, Eldon realizes the harshness of farming, seeing his father exhausted and comforted by his mother as he sings a sad song. 

Trips to the lake signal the arrival of fall. It is a pleasant part of the season, but Eldon hates fall because of the animal killing. While his mother explains that animals are necessary for their sustenance, Eldon cannot stand the blood and screams of pigs and other animals. He watches the process and realizes that his father, Uncle David, and Nels also dislike the killing. After his father finishes the job, the men take off their hats and stand in silence as the animals are dying. 

The transition between fall and winter is significant for Eldon, who considers the season a period of magical change. Around the farm, everything is covered in snow; machines and buildings look like animals to Eldon. Every winter, the family gathers in the living room, “the winter room” as Eldon names it, and Uncle David begins his storytelling. 

Uncle David always starts with his late wife Alida’s story. Uncle David married Alida in Norway when he was a young woodcutter. The couple planned to migrate to America when Alida became pregnant. However, she and the child died during birth. Uncle David wandered into the woods, where Nels found him and brought him to America. Uncle David never recovered from this loss and remains heartbroken.

Uncle David continues with the story of Orud, a Norse legend. Orud was a fearful Viking who traveled and raided villages. He fell in love with Melena, a beautiful, smart woman who resisted him. Orud tied her to his boat, but Melena freed herself and fell into the sea. Orud followed her but forgot about his armor and sank. The story goes that they both live in a cottage under the sea. Melena cursed Orud’s village and spread her hair from the bottom of the sea, sinking all boats and causing waves and wind with her laughter. 

Another story is about Crazy Allen, a woodcutter who worked in camps. He often played jokes on his friends to make them laugh, but he was fired because of one dangerous joke against the foreman. The foreman, though, loved Crazy Allen, and the two became friends. Before dying, Crazy Allen decided to play his final joke by allowing himself to freeze so that his friend struggled to carry him to the undertaker. While death is scary to Eldon, Crazy Allen’s story makes him laugh.

The final story about the woodcutter is about Uncle David himself. He narrates it in the third person, talking about a young woodcutter who did miracles with an ax. The story angers Wayne because he thinks that Uncle David is lying. For Eldon, the stories are fictional tales, but in Wayne’s mind, they are real. Uncle David stops the storytelling for several days. The two brothers discuss in the barn one morning, and Wayne explains to Eldon that Uncle David is bragging, trying to present himself as a hero. Uncle David overhears the conversation while outside the barn and is hurt by Wayne’s accusations. The brothers start fighting but stop to watch Uncle David. Returning to the yard, he takes an ax and starts cutting wood with the same power of his youth. Eldon and Wayne watch secretly, marveling at his momentary transformation. Wayne stops Eldon from running enthusiastically outside, saying Uncle David did this for himself. At night, the storytelling continues, and Eldon knows they will always listen to his stories.