46 pages • 1 hour read
Joan W. BlosA Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1979A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
These journal entries span the time from April 5 to May 2, 1831. Catherine reflects that few fruits and vegetables remain from the past season, but parsnips are plentiful. She helps Asa write a poem to give to Sophy on the last day of school, when the students traditionally exchange romantic keepsakes. School ends on April 13, and Catherine receives forget-me-nots from her friend Joshua. She, Cassie, and Asa cross through the woods on their way home, and Catherine reflects that the woods look very different from the day when they brought the quilt to do “an act of charity (or folly) for fugitive (or villain)” (64).
Mrs. Shipman has the three girls let down the hems of their dresses; Catherine and Cassie must sew 12 stitches for every inch. Father leaves for his trip with a load of furs, blocks of maple sugar, and brooms. He will buy foods they can’t grow, items and parts for tools, and fabrics. He will take the Shipmans’ horses and trade for their family as well. Cassie’s father will help keep up the Hall farm, and in return, Father will give the Shipmans two days of plowing.
Catherine and Cassie do laundry together and gossip about Teacher Holt, who is courting Aunt Lucy. Father returns from Boston later than expected with the news that he is going to marry a widow named Ann Higham, who has a son Catherine’s age. They met in the shop where Ann works for her brother. Ann has written an affectionate note to Catherine, expressing her desire to be friends, along with a new bonnet—blue to match Catherine’s eyes. The marriage is set to take place in Boston at the end of the month. Catherine thinks that it is an odd time to marry since there is so much farm work to be done.
Chapter 11 Summary
These journal entries cover May 6 to May 29, 1831. A “Jew, a peddlar” comes by the Hall house to sell goods for sewing (70). He is the first Jewish person Catherine has seen. She purchases some things from him and inquires why he has scissors for sale at 12 cents each and twice that much, causing him to smile. He answers that people prefer the costlier scissors even though they are exactly the same. She thinks that his candor is likeable.
Father is eager to receive letters from Ann, which are filled with questions that reflect her lack of familiarity with rural life. Catherine says that it is the last time that the house will be theirs alone and not also Ann and her son Daniel’s. She protests when Father has a new jacket made for the wedding, and he chastises her, saying that they are fortunate that Ann has agreed to live with them. He departs for the wedding. Catherine writes that she will not call Ann “Mother.”
Ann arrives on May 26, 1831. She is petite and plain, and Daniel is tall and plain and has little to say. He will have his own space in the room Matty and Catherine share. Mrs. Shipman visits, and the visit is awkward until chatty Aunt Lucy arrives. At church, everyone stares at the newcomers.
Chapter 12 Summary
Chapter 12 spans the time from May 30 to June 11, 1831. Spring has come, and as they air the bedding, Catherine hears Ann murmur, “Let me remember this thankful moment later, when I’ve doubts” (78). Ann keeps everyone busy with household tasks, including spring cleaning and moving the furniture around.
A mural painter has decorated the staircase in the Shipman home. Catherine studies the design and method closely, observing the tiny leaves on the trees. Cassie says that the leaves show that it will be “[s]pring for ever” in the mural (80). Summer school begins on June 8; only the Hall and Shipman girls will go, not the older boys. Catherine pointedly refers to new school supplies for Matty that were bought by “her,” as she refers to Ann. Catherine likes the new teacher, Miss Orpha.
A new weaver comes to the Hall home to spin a new coverlet. Talk of quilts leads Matty to ask Catherine to tell Ann the story of the quilt she has given away, with red from the Hessian’s coat. Catherine confesses to Ann that she gave it to the self-emancipated man and how difficult the decision to help him had been. Ann is upset but quickly recovers her calm and calls Catherine “dear child.” She decides that Catherine must make a quilt to replace the one she gave away, and Ann will teach her. She stretches out a hand to Catherine, who cries, and Ann’s eyes look wet as well.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
Chapters 10-12 show Catherine’s mixed feelings at giving up her role as the female head of her household. Ann’s arrival is the second major trial faced by Catherine in her journey toward adulthood. She resents Ann’s influence over her father and expresses it in indirect ways, such as protesting the cost of Father’s new clothing. She also resents the changes Ann brings to the household, moving the furniture around and selecting a different weaver from the one the family usually employs. These changes anticipate Catherine’s coming of age, as she must one day leave the household.
Conversely, Ann gives Catherine a chance to act her age again, calling her “dear child.” In turn, the chapters reveal Ann to be a strong person, resolved to fit into the family and gain Catherine’s affection. Ann’s compassion and her desire to help Catherine make the new quilt mark a turning point in their relationship.
When Catherine and Cassie select the old quilt in Chapter 4, Catherine does not mention that Matty has seen them take it. The revelation in Chapter 12 that Matty did witness this small theft suggests that Catherine is an unreliable narrator; a novel in the form of journal entries limits its content to what the diarist chooses to tell. As such, it remains unclear in Chapter 12 whether or not Catherine knew at the time that Matty was present in the earlier scene. The focus instead is on her guilt and its aftermath.
These chapters show several characters pairing off romantically: Asa and Sophy, Teacher Holt and Aunt Lucy, and Father and Ann. Blos hence portrays the patriarchal and heteronormative pressures in this place and time. Catherine receives forget-me-nots from Joshua but expresses no interest in him otherwise. The Prologue shows that she will eventually marry, but romance is not a part of her journey toward adulthood during her time living in the family home in Meredith. Rather, it will be the death of Cassie, foreshadowed in Cassie’s words about it being “[s]pring for ever” (80), that completes her emotional journey.
The open mind that Catherine shows in helping the self-liberated man and thinking about the ad for an enslaved teenaged girl continues to broaden her view of the world. She encounters a Jewish peddler, the first Jewish person she has ever seen. She doesn’t seem to know much about the Jewish faith—for instance, he refuses the food the family offers to him, the implication being that it isn’t kosher. However, she finds common ground with him when he lets her in on the joke about the overpriced scissors. Her shared joke with the Jewish peddler underscores the theme that both Joy and Sorrow Unite Humankind. Blos suggests that a moment of levity can build bridges among people who are different.
