Calico Captive

“Curiously enough, the Indians had accepted the fact that Polly, unlike the cowed Sue, was docile only so long as she was in sight of her mother. The moment the trees hid her from that familiar figure hunched on the back of old Scoggins, no threat could subdue her wails. The Indians had shown surprising patience with this behavior, and the brave who carried Polly waited stolidly in the trail whenever Susanna was forced to rest.”

This quote illustrates the theme of Cultural Clashes and Assimilation. While Miriam expects the Abenaki warriors to be cruel based on stories she’s been told, her lived experience shows they are much kinder than she expects. It also shows the differing ways the Johnson children react to other cultures. Polly refuses to assimilate while Sylvanus embraces Abenaki customs.

“Miriam was long past caring that the precious dress was bleached and torn to a shapeless rag when at last the party reached the village of St. Francis.”

This quote explores the theme of Survival and Resilience. Miriam’s hardships have shifted her priorities away from caring about the dress she loved so dearly. Now, she is focused on surviving the journey rather than thinking about the past.

“Mehkoa was among the hunters. Time after time her eyes were drawn back to that arrogant head with its boldly shaped features.”

This quote illustrates that while there are cultural clashes between them, Miriam is drawn to Mehkoa. He represents a freedom and agency that she has never had as the daughter of New England colonists. Through Mehkoa and, later, Pierre, Miriam discovers new sides of her identity.

“When you ran out of the lodge, Mehkoa announced that he no longer wanted you on any terms, and he stalked out himself. The Indians consider this very childish behavior. Mehkoa is in disgrace with his father and with his own people.”

This quote shows that Miriam’s refusal to marry Mehkoa shifts the stakes in the novel. While Miriam was treated kindly before, when she shames a well-loved young warrior, it puts her in jeopardy and ensures that James must quickly get the family out of St. Francis. After this incident, Miriam risks being married off to an old man.

“Leaving Susanna had robbed them all of their courage. More than ever they realized how her spirit had upheld them through all the days of their captivity.”

This quote illustrates the importance of Susanna’s character. She is Miriam’s older sister, but she holds the family together. In many ways, this subverts the expected gender norms at the time.

“Miriam stood blinking at a scene so beautiful that it had to be a dream. There was warmth and light, and the long-remembered fragrance of new bread. […] Could this be an enemy country, where every object was so dear and familiar.”

This quote shows that while Miriam viewed the Abenaki customs as strange and objectionable, she views French customs as familiar and appealing. Despite her feelings, Miriam is just as much a captive of the French, who are also enemies.

“For she had been lucky beyond anything she could have dreamed. It was hard to remember that she was a prisoner, and that Montreal was a dreaded and evil city. Surely it was treacherous of her, but she had to admit that she found every feature of this new experience exciting.”

This quote illustrates the theme of Cultural Clashes and Assimilation. Miriam has been raised to view the French and Montreal as evil, but she finds it new and wonderful.

“She marveled at Hortense. This kitchen maid who admitted she could neither read nor write and had no reason in the world for wanting to speak a foreign tongue grasped the words and stored them away like the quick little squirrel she resembled, just for the fun of it.”

This quote illustrates how Hortense shatters Miriam’s preconceived notions about people in Montreal. It also shows the stark difference between Hortense and Felicité who, in contrast, is disinterested in learning even though she has leisure time.

“Scrubbed and brushed and dressed in a bright new jumper, Polly looked more sick and miserable than at any time on the Indian trail. She gave no sign that she recognized Miriam, merely stood staring at the strange clothes that made her aunt an alien like the others.”

This quote shows that while Miriam is assimilating and luxuriating in the softer surroundings, Polly will not assimilate. Instead, she pines for her mother. This also forces Miriam to feel uneasy about her choice to embrace her captors; Polly seems worse off among the French than among the Abenaki Miriam considered so uncivilized.

“What was there about Susanna that, standing there so plain and severe, without knowing or caring, she had a beauty not one of them could touch? For an instant a hint of misgiving quivered in Miriam’s mind.”

This quote shows that Miriam has some awareness that her assimilation into French culture is troubling and perhaps even treasonous. Miriam is wholly focused on what wealthy people in Montreal think. She desperately wants to belong, while Susanna knows she does not belong and does not want to.

“‘If people feel like that—what will your family think? If we are enemies—’

‘That is different,’ answered Hortense over her shoulder. ‘You are not my enemy. You are my friend, n’est-ce pas?’”

This quote illustrates Miriam’s realization that she misunderstood her place in Montreal. When the Du Quesnes cast Miriam and Susanna out and no one will hire them, she realizes that the war is not an abstract concept but could lead to dire consequences and threaten her and Susanna’s survival.

“Moreover, there was a warm, close friendliness and affection in the cottage that was contagious. It was impossible to follow her bitter thoughts while three admiring little girls hung over her shoulder. Instead she threaded needles for them and set them to competing for the straightest line of stitches. Gradually her hurt began to heal.”

This quote shows the Survival and Resilience theme. Felicité’s abandonment deeply wounds Miriam, but being surrounded by a loving family, and being helpful, starts to heal her. It also demonstrates how central sewing is to Miriam’s sense of self and purpose.

“In all these months no one had ever encouraged Susanna to talk about her children, and now, under the sympathy that shone in the older woman’s face, the story poured out, of Polly whom she was forbidden to see, of Sue, who was fast being wooed from her, and of Sylvanus, torn from her in the forest. There were tears in both women’s eyes as she finished. Ashamed of her lack of control, Susanna from the table.”

This quote is an indirect characterization of Miriam. Despite Miriam and Susanna spending their days together, Miriam never asks Susanna about how she was feeling over her separation from her children. This shows that while Miriam seems mature in some ways, she has still not developed the empathy that Hortense’s mother has.

“It took ingenuity to turn and piece so that not a precious scrap would be wasted. As the days went by she made a surprising discovery. For her there was something deeply satisfying in a neat, well-finished garment, even in a tiny jumper of homespun wool. With a needle in her hand she was almost content.”

This quote shows Miriam’s resilience and resourcefulness, which her approach to sewing comes to symbolize. Despite losing the luxury she valued so much, she learns that pleasure can come from reduced circumstances. This also foreshadows her choice at the end of the novel to choose Phineas Whitney over Pierre Laroche. Her life would have been like that of the Du Quesnes had she married Pierre, and instead, her life will now likely be much more like Hortense’s family.

“Imperceptibly, in the fortnight they had spent in this little room, their relationship had changed. It was Miriam, the ‘little sister,’ who crossed the room now to inspect the length of goods in Susanna’s lap and to speak with unconscious authority.”

This quote illustrates a role reversal that continues for the rest of the novel. Miriam becomes first the leader in their relationship, and then she must become entirely independent when Susanna is imprisoned.

“It was getting harder every day to think of ways to rouse Susanna from the despair that held her like a net, drawing ever tighter.”

This quote further develops Susanna’s character. While she had been so strong and resolute early in the novel, the loss of James has taken her hope. A simile likening this to being ensnared in a net subtly connects Susanna’s plight to the broader motif of captivity, underscoring the seriousness of her feelings. It is only when James returns that Susanna regains her resilience.

“Why then did this letter, which a few months before would have lifted her to the clouds, now plunge her into this torment of uncertainty? Phineas had not changed. Ah, but she herself had changed! To the girl who had said goodbye at the cabin door that night so long ago, the whole world had been bounded by a new calico dress and the promise in a boy’s blue eyes.”

This quote reveals the character growth that Miriam has gone through because of her hardships. Miriam’s world was small, and now it is much larger, which complicates what she desires. This shows Miriam’s inner turmoil because she no longer knows if she wants Phineas.

“‘Phineas Whitney is worth a dozen of him’ she would remind herself. ‘And besides, Pierre may never come again.’ But even as she said it, something within her was listening and waiting, and the words on the sheet of paper were dim as an echo from a long long distance.”

This quote further illustrates Miriam’s internal struggle to understand what she wants. While she knows she should want Phineas, the excitement of Pierre’s attention has made Phineas’s memory fade.

“Listening, Miriam’s imagination was stirred, her pioneer blood beat faster at the thought of the wild unexplored country. She would watch Pierre, totally unaware of her own shining eyes and parted lips. But sometimes he would fall silent, and then she would look away, unable to meet the half-taunting, half-caressing stare that rested on her as perceptibly as a touch.”

This quote shows Miriam’s primary fascination with Pierre, which is her attraction to the adventure she believes he offers. It is not until later in the novel that it becomes clear that Pierre has no intention of sharing his adventures with Miriam. Elements of this passage also reveal the novel’s largely uncritical attitude toward colonialism in North America, as it romanticizes Miriam’s “pioneer blood” and describes a continent populated by Indigenous peoples as “unexplored.”

“For the first time her blunt New England speech seemed less a matter of pride. To speak with both sincerity and grace was not, she saw now, impossible. Also, she was learning to curb her impatience.”

This quote illustrates Miriam’s assimilation of some positive aspects of the culture in which she is trapped. While she had prided herself on her bluntness, she comes to appreciate how sincerity and grace could work together. This illustrates Miriam’s personal growth and maturity.

“Even more, in a way she had not foreseen, the gift had brought her inside the circle. Never, when she had lived in their house, had she felt one with the family as she did today.”

This quote relates to the symbol of dresses in the novel. Miriam chose to give Hortense a wedding dress, and in doing so it gave her an even greater gift. She finally was fully included in a family, which is even more important to her because she is separated from her own family.

“She had been fearful ever since she had met Pierre of provoking the violence that lurked beneath the gay surface.”

This quote furthers contrasts Pierre and Phineas. While Miriam felt she could tell Phineas anything, she is uneasy around Pierre and wary of his temper.

“I am afraid that to Pierre I am just something he has taken a fancy to, like another ornament to put in his fine house he is going to build. To sit there alone, just waiting for when he chooses to come home—should there not be more to marriage than that?”

This quote illustrates The Value of Listening to One’s Heart, which is a crucial theme in Calico Captive. Miriam has an inkling of what type of marriage she wants, but she’s unsure of whether she could have that with Pierre. It also shows another conflict because Pierre’s grandfather pressures her to accept Pierre’s proposal.