Wind Tunnels: Themes in Maine Literature and Their Relevance to Schooling

This paper examines themes in Maine history and literature related to the character of traditional Maine people, particularly coastal people, and their attitudes toward education. The historical survey touches upon early settlement, subsistence farming, frontiers in the woods and on the islands, inf...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Lawrence, Barbara Kent
Format Dissertation
LanguageEnglish
Published 1994
Subjects
Community Change
Cultural Context
Educational Attitudes
Elementary Secondary Education
Literary Criticism
Maine
Regional Attitudes
Regional Characteristics
Regional Literature
Rural Education
Rural Population
State History
Tourism
Values
Work Ethic
Maine
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Summary:This paper examines themes in Maine history and literature related to the character of traditional Maine people, particularly coastal people, and their attitudes toward education. The historical survey touches upon early settlement, subsistence farming, frontiers in the woods and on the islands, influence of the sea and sailing, and influences of visitors and local residents who migrated between home and urban areas. Quotations from literary works illustrate the following themes in Yankee character: work ethic, thrift and miserliness, individualism and eccentricity, self-discipline and repression, love of the land and animals, and neighborliness and spite. As with so many other things, Mainers have held contrasting feelings about education. Education had practical value, and educated people were admired, but, on the other hand, education could interfere with a girl's chances of marrying or a boy's inclination to enter farming or sailing. From the 1880s to the present, rich outsiders have come to Maine as summer tourists, bought property, and employed the local people as servants. The Maine tradition of valuing people for their work conflicts with the dominant culture that values socioeconomic status. Working for summer people has eroded local people's confidence in their own worth and efficacy. The great increase in students, teachers, and administrators "from away" alienates traditional students, and they turn away from education that discounts their own culture. Families are reluctant to go into debt for higher education fearing that children will leave home. (SV)