Montana 1948
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Author | Larry Watson |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Western novel |
| Publisher | Milkweed Editions |
| Released | 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 182 |
| ISBN | 1571310614 |
Montana 1948 is a 1993 novel by Larry Watson. The novel focuses on the life of young Montanan David Hayden, his family and the fictional town of Mercer County, Montana. The book was awarded the Milkweed National Fiction Prize. The book focuses on family cohesion and also getting away from your family name.
[edit] Plot summary
Montana 1948, by Larry Watson, is the story about the Hayden family of Montana during the summer of 1948 (as the title suggests) and how their lives are changed forever due to the actions of their uncle.
When Marie first showed symptoms of illness, she just wanted to be left alone to recover by herself. She insisted that she did not need the help from Frank, the family doctor, but did not say why. It wasn’t later, after Frank saw her anyway, that she told Gail why she didn’t want his help. Gail is mortified to hear about what happens to all of the Indian girls that are treated by Frank. She is utterly disgusted by Franks ‘bad habit’, and is very hesitant to tell Wes about it, but knows he must be informed.
At first Wes wants to hear nothing of the sort, but finds that he simply cannot dismiss Gail’s information about his brother. When Wes tries to find some more information about these horrible allegations, he begins to wonder if his brother really did commit such felonious acts, was it possible that his brother actually raped his patients?
Wes’s searching for answers ends up with news that he does not want to hear! He now knows that the awful rumors about his brother are true, and that his father must be informed. When the Hayden family takes a trip up to the Grandparents ranch, Wes tells his father of Frank’s crimes. “Frank has always had a thing for red meat” Julian assures Wes that nothing else will happen with any more of Franks female Indian patients, and with this said, the family seems to be less worried. They go home and find Marie feeling better. The next day, however, they find her dead.
The death of little Marie soldier was not taken easily by anyone. David has strong feelings for Marie, and her death probably affected him the most. Of course, everyone wants to know why she died, and Frank tells them ‘pneumonia’. Basically, she was sick, this happens. Even though he’s been told she died to illness, David knows better. He remembers seeing his uncle earlier during the day, he remembers seeing Frank enter their house as he was walking off to go fishing.
Could Uncle Frank really have murdered Marie? Sure, he had raped a few girls here and there, but was Uncle Frank, the same Uncle Frank who fought for his country, the same Uncle Frank who was a respected family doctor, the same Uncle Frank that used to play with him as a little kid, really capable of ending an innocent person’s life?
With even more new information, Wes has no choice but to arrest his brother. Instead of taking him to an actual jail, he thinks that he can spare his murderer/rapist brother some embarrassment by chucking him in their basement instead. So, when Julian comes by and wants his son out he gets the answer he doesn’t want. So, obviously the smart thing for Julian to do is send over a couple of thugs to the house to free his criminal Son. Gail wards off the thugs with a shotgun. During the night Frank kills himself with broken glass jars. The Hayden family move away from Bentrock. After everything that happened there, it’s no wonder that they decide to leave.
The Hayden’s all had to face problems during the novel. Wes was caught in the middle of right and wrong, family and law. Gail needed to stand strong and cope with Maries death and keep her family in one piece while doing it and David… he faced the most challenging problems. He needed to function normally while he began to leave his childhood and mature as a teenager, and lose the girl he loved so dear in the process. Though Frank was now gone, their lives would never be the same again.
