Familiaris

Mary examines the house while So Jack, Elbow, and John repair the roof. The house feels disjointed, but Mary notices a spiral pattern. She decides the house is a sanctuary, with the most protected spot being the west window on the second floor.

Mary and John go to town to finalize their purchase. Mary leads the conversation, having learned about property laws through Alfons’s business correspondence. Adamski points out a few landmarks while John examines passing dogs. Adamski also explains the previous owner sold the farm after breaking both his arms. That afternoon, Mary sews mattress covers, which she then fills with straw. Elbow builds a bedframe but is dissatisfied with its quality.

Elbow makes four bedframes and is dissatisfied, so John suggests he perfect a fifth and repairs the frames one at a time. A severe storm hits, proving the roof repairs sound, and Frank moves out to the barn to get away from Needles. The dogs clear the property of vermin, with Gus and Vi being hoisted up to clear the loft in the barn.

Frank looks ill and reveals his severe constipation to John. John takes him to Popcorn Corners, where Ida somehow already knew John would come for prunes, which she ordered in advance. She asks John to give Walter a puppy from a later litter and appears to talk to herself. Back in the car, John drives erratically until Frank yells at him to stop. Frank hops away from the car to defecate, complaining loudly while John cheers him on and gets him a few pages of Practical Agriculture and Free Will to wipe with.

John is impressed with the sophistication of Frank’s leg as he fetches it and returns it to Frank six days earlier than planned. After putting his leg on, Frank tries to leave but can’t keep his balance and gives up, though John offers to drive him into town.

John helps Elbow with the kitchen table he is building. Elbow learned woodworking from his father, Milton, who was raised as a Shaker. When the table is put together in the kitchen, it has a slight wobble, which bothers Elbow. That evening, John writes to Ricardo, asking for information about and a picture of Theda. In the morning, Mary encourages Elbow, who is still bothered, to work on the table until he is happy with it. She tells Elbow she dreams differently in the new bed, and Elbow admits the others have said the same, but he hasn’t had the same experience. Mary gets John, telling him to help Elbow carry the table back out but to not ask Elbow questions about it.

After six weeks on the farm, everyone settles into a routine, and Frank and John talk every day. During one talk in October, Frank complains about Practical Agriculture and Free Will, calling it “[t]he ravings of a lunatic” (395). The conversation gives John the idea to hook Frank up to the hay trolley to help him practice his balance. Frank hates the process, but John believes they are making progress. Later, Frank resumes reading Practical Agriculture and Free Will and tries to get Needles to leave him alone.

John ponders excerpts from Practical Agriculture and Free Will, extracting meaning from the strange prose, which offers advice like, “For a surprise, slow down when the instinct calls for speed” and, “There is no such thing as misbehavior. Only behavior” (402). John feels smart reading the text. That night, John asks everyone if you can reason with dirt—another excerpt from the text—and they all have different interpretations, with Frank assuming the passage is about death.

In December, a blizzard hits, and Frank, Elbow, and So Jack stay in the house and make plans to get firewood. So Jack says Granddaddy can haul the loads and explains he bought three axes. When the weather clears, the temperature drops, and they take turns shoveling. During a break, John finds Frank making coffee, to which he adds eggshells to cut the bitterness, and he thinks Frank is feeling better. John resumes shoveling and wishes on a star that Mary will never get hurt.

Elbow, John, and So Jack go into the woods with Granddaddy, laying a track and building a travois. So Jack teaches the others that the path they take should make the horse feel safe, shows them how to chop wood, and says Elbow can build them a sled. One day after a firewood run, John sits alone, reflecting on his first trip to the woods with his father before his father became a fatalist. The dogs join him, and he gives up reminiscing to play with them.

Winter is harsher than they expected, and So Jack encourages them to go to town and stock up on supplies between storms. John is frustrated by how much they are working, having planned to do more relaxing. He continues to study Practical Agriculture and Free Will, often quoting it in conversations. He thinks that before they can do something beautiful, they must be bored.

In January 1920, the Volstead Act passes, and Prohibition begins, though Walter clandestinely sells liquor from his property. Frank starts cooking for everyone, first making an unpalatable stew, which makes John think Frank will officially stay on the farm.

Winter is isolating and cold. So Jack suggests John start training the dogs like how he trained Granddaddy, and he starts teaching John how to listen to the dogs instead of just watching them. He begins studying the dogs more in-depth, filling several notebooks and realizing the complexity of their personalities. So Jack further advises John, explaining that John needs to watch the dogs and reward their positive behaviors—“Needles isn’t eating you like a wild wolf. Your part is to be excited about that” (426).

Frank and So Jack dislike and are combative with each other. So Jack wants Frank to utilize Grandaddy’s “sentimental counseling” services. The services include a session alone with Granddaddy and one question, with So Jack interpreting the answer.

When the weather is nice, Mary works through the scrap pile in the barn, burning most of it and salvaging what she can. They find alcohol labels and tax stamps and wonder why the previous owner, Schultz, had them.

One day, So Jack suggests Frank run a ferry service, and he poses a thought experiment: How could a ferry operator, taking one passenger at a time, carry a wolf, goat, and lettuce without leaving the goat and lettuce alone or the goat and wolf alone? They bicker about the thought experiment, not finding an easy answer to the problem.

Frank has a session with Granddaddy, first brushing Granddaddy in the stall and feeding him cornflakes and carrots. Frank says they are both John’s prisoners and explains that he voted against So Jack staying because he foresaw complications with harboring a fugitive. Frank is frustrated with and resents John, claiming he wants to watch John fail but admitting he is avoiding relapsing. Frank also reminisces about his motorcycle. So Jack comes to interpret the question, but Frank isn’t done. Frank walks around outside with Granddaddy, and Granddaddy helps him keep his balance. At the end of the session, Frank refuses to ask a question.

In May, So Jack waves at a man in a truck. So Jack hauls something for a woman and then lets her have a session with Granddaddy. Afterward, he boards Granddaddy and rents a hotel room then goes out to celebrate the $5 he made that day. He goes to an old pub named the Hollow, which now houses a speakeasy. He drinks and brags about Granddaddy to a red-headed man with a disabled hand—Kelaas. The man reacts oddly, and So Jack regrets bragging. He goes outside, is hit, and is knocked unconscious. He wakes to two strangers who help him get to the doctor’s office. There, they wire his broken jaw. So Jack returns to the stable, relieved to find Granddaddy is okay.

Everyone takes two-hour shifts caring for So Jack. Frank jokes that Granddaddy probably kicked him then explains that he is comfortable joking because he knows So Jack will be okay. He says they should let So Jack rest and make soup for when he wakes.

So Jack moans in his sleep, which triggers bad memories for Frank. Frank stays with So Jack while the others go to town for fresh ice. He cuts his hand and finds an eyedropper while tending the cut. He uses the eyedropper to fashion a makeshift syringe, pulling a needle and morphine from his prosthetic legs. He goes to So Jack but doesn’t give him the medicine because So Jack is sleeping. When the others get home, Granddaddy is loose, and they find Frank took the morphine. Elbow drags Frank outside, slamming him against the barn demanding then dumping the remainder of the drug, and John helps Frank get to bed.

So Jack empathizes with Frank, arguing that he probably would have done the same thing if he was in Frank’s position. He also points out how long Frank had the morphine without using it and says Granddaddy is smart enough to not run off.

John writes to Ricardo asking him to send his sons to get Frank’s motorcycle and ship it to Mellen. He reminisces about seeing a motorcycle performance—“The Hazardous Globe of Death” (470)—with Frank when they were kids. The act showed a husband and wife riding motorcycles inside of a metal globe, and it awed Frank, sparking his interest in motorcycles.

Frank goes outside, finds his motorcycle, and sits on it. He decides to resume his balance practice, but So Jack argues the harness method is ineffective.

Mary John and Elbow visit blind tigers, or speakeasies, where Elbow meets and falls in love with Audition Pierpont or Audie. So Jack learns to talk through his wired jaw and encourages Frank to practice balancing on Granddaddy. So Jack familiarizes Granddaddy with Frank’s prosthetic leg. Frank talks to Granddaddy while riding him. Three other people utilize Granddaddy’s counseling services, including Ida.

So Jack’s wires are removed. John and Mary explore the area. To save money, they skip buying gifts for each other, but everyone treats Mary to something nice on her birthday. John asks why Mary likes looking out the west window upstairs, and she describes how it makes her feel good to look at their “little part of the world” (490). John gets her a camera to take pictures of what she sees through the window.

Frank tries to ride his motorcycle, sending John away. John listens while working with the dogs but soon goes to check on Frank. Frank sits on the motorcycle, moves forward, wobbles, and falls, then he tries again. He keeps trying until he realizes that he is fine as long as he is going fast. Then he rides away, not returning until the next day. Mary makes a cushion for the motorcycle, and Frank gives everyone rides, except for Elbow who is too large. Frank’s mood improves, and Needles starts sleeping in his bunkroom. However, Frank still thinks John will fail.

On a June night, Mary, John, Elbow, Audie, Walter, and Ida are together at a blind tiger that’s serving screech. Walter feeds peanuts to a dog in a red collar, and after John fetches another round of drinks, they all dance until they are exhausted, including Elbow who usually refuses. John investigates a group yelling and sees the red dog being mated with a male. When he tells the others, Ida says the dog will get pregnant. A large man—John Lang, a corrupt game warden suspected of killing his wife and children—arrives and punches the bartender. Rumor holds that Lang also bombed the porch of a reporter who wrote about the death of his family. Ida says she wants to get her hands on Lang then walks away after Walter chastises her.

People start leaving, and Walter notices the female dog and kneels by her. A drunk driver hits and kills them. However, John watches as Ida grabs two nearby saplings. She makes them grow into large trees and then turns back time. As John watches, he knows he will forget. Ida lets go, and the car hits the trees, killing the driver.

They take the dog, whose collar was removed, letting them know she was abandoned. John takes the dog and names her Penny. Elbow and Mary work together to build a whelping box for Penny’s coming litter. John feels like everyone else has found their “rare dearity” except for him. He continues working with his dogs. He has also become intimately familiar with all the dogs in the area, which he thinks is a useless skill.

John Lang shows up as everyone, except Frank, is celebrating the birth of Penny’s puppies. Lang was the logging foreman the year So Jack faked Granddaddy’s injury. Lang is also the one who broke So Jack’s jaw. He intends to take Granddaddy back to the ice company, which is offering a $300 reward—the same amount as the bonus he missed out on the year he was foreman. So Jack offers to pay Lang directly, and Mary offers to make up the difference since So Jack has only a little over $200. Lang wants to use the barn, according to a deal he made with Schultz. They realize Lang broke Schultz’s arms and triggered the sale of the farm.

An angry Needles comes out followed by Frank. John, Mary, and Elbow hold the dogs from attacking Lang. Frank points out this is why he voted against So Jack staying, and he compares Lang to the wolf from the ferry thought experiment, calling for another vote. He counts to three, but Lang takes off running. Frank, who has a gun, shoots twice from the doorway, killing Lang, and everyone says they would have voted yes. So Jack harnesses Granddaddy to dispose of the body, while Elbow moves Lang’s hidden vehicle to a nearby blind tiger. In the morning, Frank leaves, followed a week later by So Jack and Granddaddy. Elbow and Audie announce their marriage and their purchase of a nearby farm.

Years later, Elbow makes a beautiful musical table. Frank owns a restaurant called “Shut Up and Eat” (538), where he serves food without a menu. John wonders if the others would have stayed if they relaxed more, but Mary counters that they have only laid the “groundwork” so far. John visits Popcorn Corners to see Ida while Walter is away. She takes him upstairs, they touch, and John has a vision of speaking with his older and younger selves. His older self notes how impatient John is, and his younger self suggests that he should play. He returns home and works with Penny’s puppies, saying he will introduce them to snow the next day.

John often dreams about a prehistoric man learning to live and work with wolves. In his dream, the man, who is a poor hunter, learns to lead deer into a ravine, so he can kill them easily. Two wolves raised by the village dump followed the man. The man gave the wolves scraps. When he had children, the man passed on his knowledge to them. One of the wolves, the female, stayed nearby and procreated, resulting in generations of wolves living alongside the humans.