Article #542-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from The Life of Me: An Autobiography, by Clarence Edgar Johnson

During the two years my parents farmed away from their own farm,
they spent many days of hard work driving back and forth,
building a house, clearing some of the land, and building fences
on their land. And of course they had to have a well drilled and
put up a windmill and water tank.

At the end of that two years, they took their two children and
moved into their new house on the first farm they had ever owned.
And Papa, with the aid of an efficient helpmate, continued to
improve the farm. They built a big barn and shelters for cows,
hogs, horses, poultry, a hack, buggy, harness, and other things.
And the family continued to grow. George was born in 1900 and a
daughter in 1901. George lived 26 months and died with the
croup. The daughter lived only two weeks. Earl was born in 1902
and Joel in 1904. This was the state of the family in 1906, the
year Grandpa died in his home, and the year I was born. Aunts,
Uncles, and cousins lived on three sides of us, and Grandma lived
in the big house a quarter-mile north of us.

My parents were getting quite a collection of children by this
time. And it is not always easy to find family hand-me-down
names for that many kids. So by the time the seventh one arrived
they had to go outside the family for a name. I don't know how
far out they went but they came back with what I have always
thought was a "far out" name, Clarence Edgar, and they pinned it
on me. I was born January 11, 1906, in Jones County, West Texas,
in the middle of a large family. Frank was eight years old when
I was born, Susie was seven, Earl three, and Joel 16 months.
There were three others born later, Albert, Ollie Mae, and
William Robert. So, as you can see, my parents thrived and grew
rich--if you count children as wealth. There were ten of us,
eight of whom attained full size and strength.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Life of Me: An Autobiography by Clarence Edgar Johnson**

This passage from Clarence Edgar Johnson’s autobiography offers a vivid, first-person account of his family’s early years on their farm in West Texas. Written in a straightforward yet reflective style, the excerpt blends historical detail with personal memory, revealing themes of hardship, resilience, family, and the cyclical nature of life and loss. Below is a breakdown of the text’s key elements, including its context, themes, literary devices, and significance, with a primary focus on close analysis of the passage itself.

1. Context of the Excerpt

The Life of Me: An Autobiography (likely a self-published or regional memoir) recounts the life of Clarence Edgar Johnson, born in 1906 in rural West Texas. The excerpt describes his parents’ struggles to establish a farm, the growth of their family, and the deaths of two children—all within the broader context of early 20th-century American agrarian life.

Key historical backdrop:

Homesteading and Farming: The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw many families migrating westward to claim land under the Homestead Act (1862) or to seek economic opportunity. Johnson’s parents represent this wave of settlers who worked relentlessly to carve out a life from raw land.
Rural Hardship: The passage reflects the physical labor required to build a farm from scratch—clearing land, drilling wells, constructing buildings—and the emotional toll of childbirth, infant mortality, and family expansion.
Extended Family Networks: The presence of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents nearby suggests a communal rural lifestyle, where families relied on one another for support.

2. Themes in the Excerpt

A. The Struggle and Triumph of Hard Work

The opening lines emphasize the relentless labor of Johnson’s parents:

"During the two years my parents farmed away from their own farm, they spent many days of hard work driving back and forth, building a house, clearing some of the land, and building fences on their land. And of course they had to have a well drilled and put up a windmill and water tank."

Physical Endurance: The repetition of "building" (house, fences, barn, shelters) and the listing of tasks (clearing land, drilling a well, erecting a windmill) convey the exhaustive, incremental nature of farm life.
Progress and Ownership: The phrase "the first farm they had ever owned" marks a milestone—a shift from tenant farming to landownership, a symbol of economic and social ascent in rural America.

B. The Fragility of Life and the Weight of Loss

The passage abruptly shifts from farm development to family growth and death:

"George was born in 1900 and a daughter in 1901. George lived 26 months and died with the croup. The daughter lived only two weeks."

Matter-of-Fact Tone: The understated delivery of these deaths is striking. There is no emotional embellishment, which may reflect:
- The normalization of infant mortality in the early 1900s (before modern medicine).
- A stoic rural mindset, where hardship was endured without excessive lament.
Croup as a Historical Killer: Croup (a respiratory infection) was a leading cause of child death before vaccines and antibiotics. Its mention grounds the text in medical and social history.
Contrast with New Life: The births of Earl (1902) and Joel (1904) immediately follow the deaths, reinforcing the cycle of life and loss—a common theme in rural and frontier narratives.

C. Family as Wealth and Identity

Johnson’s humorous yet poignant reflection on his name and the sheer number of children highlights how family size equated to richness:

"So, as you can see, my parents thrived and grew rich—if you count children as wealth. There were ten of us, eight of whom attained full size and strength."

"Count children as wealth": This phrase is ironic yet sincere. In an agrarian economy, children were labor assets, but Johnson also suggests that emotional and social wealth came from a large family.
Survival as Success: The note that eight of ten children survived to adulthood was statistically fortunate for the era (infant mortality rates were high).
Naming as Identity: The anecdote about his "far out" name (Clarence Edgar) adds a personal, almost whimsical touch, contrasting with the earlier solemnity. It suggests:
- The exhaustion of traditional naming conventions in large families.
- A playful defiance—his parents had to look beyond family names, making his name uniquely his.

D. Community and Generational Ties

The mention of extended family living nearby reinforces the interdependence of rural life:

"Aunts, Uncles, and cousins lived on three sides of us, and Grandma lived in the big house a quarter-mile north of us."

Geographical Closeness = Emotional Support: The proximity of relatives would have provided childcare, labor, and emotional bonds—critical in a pre-welfare-state society.
Grandpa’s Death (1906): The year of Johnson’s birth is also the year his grandfather died, linking birth and death in a single temporal moment—a literary device that underscores life’s continuity.

3. Literary Devices and Stylistic Choices

A. Cataloging (Listing)

Johnson frequently uses lists to convey the scope of labor and family growth:

"building a house, clearing some of the land, and building fences"
"shelters for cows, hogs, horses, poultry, a hack, buggy, harness, and other things"
"Frank was eight years old when I was born, Susie was seven, Earl three, and Joel 16 months."

Effect: This technique creates a sense of accumulation—whether of work, possessions, or children—mirroring the expansive yet burdensome nature of farm life.

B. Juxtaposition

The passage contrasts:

Life and Death (births of George and a daughter vs. their early deaths).
Labor and Reward (the exhausting work of farming vs. the eventual ownership of land).
Tradition and Uniqueness (family hand-me-down names vs. Clarence’s "far out" name).

Effect: These contrasts highlight the dualities of rural existence—joy and sorrow, struggle and triumph, conformity and individuality.

C. Understatement

The matter-of-fact tone regarding child deaths and hardship is a form of rural stoicism:

"George lived 26 months and died with the croup. The daughter lived only two weeks."
"I was born January 11, 1906, in Jones County, West Texas, in the middle of a large family."

Effect: The lack of sentimentalism makes the losses feel more stark and real, reflecting how such events were endured as part of life rather than dramatized.

D. Humor and Irony

Johnson’s dry wit emerges in his commentary on his name and his parents’ "wealth":

"I don't know how far out they went but they came back with what I have always thought was a 'far out' name, Clarence Edgar."
"my parents thrived and grew rich—if you count children as wealth."

Effect: The humor softens the harder edges of the narrative, making it more relatable and engaging. It also reflects Johnson’s resilient, reflective personality.

E. Chronological Structure

The passage moves linearly through time, marking key events by year and age:

1900-1906: Births and deaths of siblings.
1906: Johnson’s birth and Grandpa’s death.
Later years: Births of more siblings.

Effect: This structured timeline gives the narrative a historical, almost ledger-like quality, reinforcing the record-keeping nature of memoirs.

4. Significance of the Excerpt

A. Historical Document of Rural America

The passage serves as a primary source for understanding:

Farming practices (land clearing, well-digging, barn-building).
Family structures (large families, extended kin networks).
Medical realities (high infant mortality, diseases like croup).

B. Universal Themes of Resilience and Loss

While rooted in a specific time and place, the excerpt resonates with broader human experiences:

The struggle to build a life from nothing.
The pain of losing children and the joy of new births.
The importance of community in sustaining families.

C. Autobiographical Voice and Memory

Johnson’s personal perspective—his humor, understatement, and attention to detail—makes the narrative intimate and authentic. Unlike a purely historical account, his subjective recollections (e.g., his thoughts on his name) give the text emotional depth.

D. Reflection on Wealth and Value

The closing lines redefine wealth not in monetary terms but in family and survival. This challenges modern notions of success and highlights the values of a bygone era.

5. Conclusion: The Excerpt’s Power

This passage from The Life of Me is a microcosm of early 20th-century rural American life. Through simple yet evocative prose, Johnson captures the grit, sorrow, and quiet triumphs of his family’s story. His use of listing, juxtaposition, and understatement creates a vivid, unsentimental portrait of hardship and resilience, while his humor and personal reflections make the narrative deeply human.

The excerpt’s significance lies in its dual role—as both a historical record and a universal meditation on family, labor, and loss. It reminds readers that behind the broad strokes of history are individual lives, each with their own struggles, joys, and far-out names.

Final Thought: If this autobiography were expanded, one might expect further exploration of how these early years shaped Johnson’s identity, work ethic, and relationships—themes that often emerge in memoirs of rural upbringings. The passage leaves us curious: How did Clarence Edgar, the seventh child with the "far out" name, carve out his own place in this large, hardworking family?

Questions

Question 1

The narrator’s description of his parents’ accumulation of children as a form of wealth most closely aligns with which of the following interpretations of value?

A. A satirical critique of materialism, where children are framed as burdens disguised as assets.
B. An economic metaphor that reduces familial bonds to transactional labor exchanges.
C. A nostalgic idealization of agrarian life, ignoring the hardships of child-rearing in the era.
D. A redefinition of prosperity that prioritizes relational abundance over monetary gain.
E. An ironic commentary on overpopulation, highlighting the unsustainability of large families.

Question 2

The passage’s treatment of the deaths of George and the unnamed daughter serves primarily to:

A. establish the narrator’s emotional detachment as a coping mechanism for trauma.
B. contrast the fragility of childhood with the durability of the farm’s physical structures.
C. provide historical context for medical limitations in early 20th-century rural Texas.
D. foreshadow the narrator’s own mortality and the cyclical nature of generational loss.
E. underscore the normalized acceptance of loss in a community where survival was precarious.

Question 3

The narrator’s remark about his name—“they came back with what I have always thought was a ‘far out’ name, Clarence Edgar”—is most effectively read as:

A. a bitter indictment of his parents’ failure to integrate him into the family’s naming traditions.
B. a literal observation about the geographical origins of the name, implying exoticism.
C. a wry, affectionate acknowledgment of his distinct identity within a large, conformist family.
D. a defensive justification for a name that marked him as an outsider in rural Texas.
E. an attempt to distance himself from the rural simplicity of his upbringing through linguistic sophistication.

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the rhetorical effect of the passage’s cataloging (e.g., listing tasks, children’s names, farm structures)?

A. It creates a sense of monotony, mirroring the repetitive drudgery of farm life.
B. It emphasizes the narrator’s meticulous, almost obsessive need for order in chaos.
C. It accumulates detail to convey both the magnitude of labor and the richness of family life.
D. It reflects the narrator’s difficulty in synthesizing memories, resulting in fragmented storytelling.
E. It serves as a mnemonic device, compensating for the unreliability of the narrator’s aging memory.

Question 5

The passage’s closing line—“There were ten of us, eight of whom attained full size and strength”—is most thematically resonant with which of the following ideas?

A. The Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest ethos inherent in frontier communities.
B. The ambiguous nature of “success” in a context where survival itself is an achievement.
C. The narrator’s subconscious guilt over outliving two of his siblings.
D. A subtle critique of parental negligence in an era lacking modern pediatric care.
E. The inevitability of attrition in large families as a statistical rather than emotional reality.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The narrator explicitly frames children as a form of wealth (“if you count children as wealth”), but the passage’s broader context—emphasizing labor, survival, and communal bonds—suggests a redefinition of prosperity that centers relational abundance (family size, intergenerational ties) over financial or material gain. This aligns with the agrarian ethos where human connections and collective effort were primary metrics of success. The tone is neither satirical (A) nor reductive (B), and the hardships of child-rearing are acknowledged (eliminating C). The focus is not on sustainability (E) but on value reassignment.