The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen

First published: 1989

Subjects: Coming-of-age, family, jobs and work, and nature

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Folktale and moral tale

Time of work: Prior to the 1940’s

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: Northern Minnesota

Principal Characters:

• Eldon, the eleven-year-old narrator of the novel
• Wayne, Eldon’s brother, who is two years older
• Eldon’s father, a hardworking second-generation Norwegian American farmer whose primary concerns are his farm and his family
• Uncle David, Eldon’s great-uncle, a former logger and gifted storyteller
• Nels, Uncle David’s closest friend, who is treated like a part of Eldon’s extended family

Form and Content

Set in northern Minnesota in the period prior to mechanized farming, this short novel is narrated by eleven-year-old Eldon, who lives on an eighty-acre farm with his parents, older brother Wayne, his father’s Uncle David, and David’s friend Nels. Eldon, a third-generation Norwegian American, presents a picture of a simpler way of life as he describes what he likes and dislikes about life during each of the four seasons. Gary Paulsen provides crisp and sometimes graphic descriptions of the softness of spring when the land thaws, the back-breaking work of summer thrashing, the autumn slaughter of pigs and chickens, and the camouflaging snows of winter. Work, particularly repetitive, physical labor, is the major component of the lifestyle that Eldon depicts. The love and bonds among Eldon’s extended family compensates for the lack of material comforts and the isolation of the family from the rest of society. Paulsen also includes some vignettes about the pranks of Eldon and his brother, as well as vivid profiles of Eldon’s father and his Uncle David. Eldon’s mother, for the most part, remains a shadowy figure in the book.

Although Eldon finds some attractive elements in each of the seasons, he loves winter best without question because it is the time when Uncle David enlivens the evenings with his stories, four of which conclude the book: the story of the death of Uncle David’s young wife, Alida; a Norse legend; a tall tale about a practical joker; and the story of Uncle David’s superiority as a lumberjack when he was a young man. The family gathers around the wood-burning stove in one of the four rooms in the farmhouse, in what might be called the living room, and, while Eldon’s father carves and his mother sews, Uncle David recounts his wonderful stories. Eldon is spellbound by David’s stories and his storytelling technique, which provide a major form of entertainment for the family. Wayne, who sees the stories as factual recollections of earlier events, ends David’s stories, however, when he accuses Uncle David of lying in the story about his exploits as a lumberjack. Markedly hurt by Wayne’s accusations, Uncle David revives the storytelling only after he proves to himself that he still has the physical strength to perform one of the feats that Wayne thought was a lie.

The novel is short on action, which may put off some readers accustomed to reading Paulsen’s survival and action-adventure stories, and the age of the narrator makes the book more appropriate for a young audience. Nevertheless, the novel is a strong testimonial to the purpose and power of stories in the lives of young people. If the lifestyle that Paulsen presents is more idyllic than what actually existed anywhere, it does provide a model of what a family could and should be.

Critical Context

Although The Winter Room earned Gary Paulsen the third selection of one of his works as a Newbery Honor Book, the novel bears little resemblance to either of its predecessors, Dogsong (1985) and Hatchet (1987). In fact, The Winter Room is a prime indication of Paulsen’s versatility as a writer, a quality that has enabled him to join the front ranks of juvenile and young adult writers. Whereas the two earlier Newbery Honor Books are memorable survival stories told by older narrators, The Winter Room is an almost actionless story told by a younger narrator, one who sometimes does not fully understand what is going on around him. If Dogsong and Hatchet are testimonials to what young adults can do if they are challenged by nature, The Winter Room provides a vivid picture of an almost-perfect world in which love and concern for one another are primary values.

A constant in all three of these books and in many of his other works is Paulsen’s poetic use of the English language, a quality that has earned him critical acclaim in addition to a large audience of young adult readers. Reading Paulsen’s books not only introduces young people to someone who tells a good story but also exposes them to someone who obviously values the written word. In a time when fewer young people read for pleasure, that becomes an important reason for introducing them to Paulsen’s books.

Bibliography

Jones, J. Sydney. “Paulsen, Gary.” In Something About the Author, edited by Alan Hedblad. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2000.

Moore, John Noell. “Archetypes: The Monomyth in Dogsong.” In Interpreting Young Adult Literature. Portsmouth, N.H.: Boynton/Cook, 1997.

Paulsen, Gary. Father Water, Mother Woods: Essays on Fishing and Hunting in the North Woods. New York: Delacorte Press, 1994.

Paulsen, Gary. Guts: The True Stories Behind “Hatchet” and the Brian Books. New York: Delacorte Press, 2001.

Salvner, Gary. Presenting Gary Paulsen. Boston: Twayne, 1996.

Wood, Susan. “Bringing Us the Way to Know: The Novels of Gary Paulsen.” English Journal 90, no. 3 (January, 2001): 67-72.