Cimarron · Chapter
IV explained
The Cravat family departs Wichita for the Oklahoma frontier.
What happens
The Cravat family departs Wichita for the Oklahoma frontier. Sabra, dressed in an impractical but genteel costume, drives one wagon while Yancey drives the other, with young Cim bouncing between them. The journey is marked by Cim's excitement, Sabra's exhaustion and culture shock, and the discovery of Black Isaiah stowing away in a roll of carpet. The chapter contrasts the family's refined Southern background with the raw, unsettled reality of pioneering.
Themes in this chapter
Pioneer Spirit and Manifest Destiny
The Cravat family's departure for the Oklahoma frontier embodies the pioneer drive, but the chapter highlights the absurdity and hardship behind the romantic ideal.
Gender Roles and Women's Agency
Sabra is expected to maintain her ladylike composure and domestic duties despite the grueling journey, illustrating the tension between prescribed femininity and frontier necessity.
Myth vs. Reality
Cim's perception of the trip as a picnic and Sabra's impractical attire contrast sharply with the actual discomfort, exhaustion, and danger of the journey.
Characters to notice
- Sabra Cravat
Drives one of the wagons, struggles with the physical demands of the journey and the shock of sleeping outdoors, clings to her genteel upbringing.
- Yancey Cravat
Drives the other wagon, makes camp matter-of-factly, discovers Black Isaiah stowed away in the carpet roll.
- Cim Cravat
Thinks the trip is a picnic, is wildly excited, shouts at the horses, and later becomes exhausted and feverish.
- Isaiah
Stows away in a roll of carpet to join the journey to Indian Territory.
- Felice Venable
Opposes the departure, takes to her bed, and issues contradictory orders while trailing about the house in a white dimity wrapper.
Key passages
“Perhaps never in the history of the settling of the West did a woman go a-pioneering in such a costume.”
Sabra's elaborate, impractical clothing was completely unsuited for frontier travel.
Highlights the clash between her refined Southern upbringing and the harsh realities of pioneering.
“A sudden shout from Yancey. A squeal of terror from the bundle of carpeting in his arms—a bundle that suddenly was alive and wriggling. Yancey dropped it with an oath. The bundle lay on the ground a moment, heaving, then it began to unroll itself while the three regarded it with starting eyes. A black paw, a woolly head, a face all open mouth and whites of eyes. Black Isaiah.”
Yancey discovers Black Isaiah has stowed away in a roll of carpet, startling everyone.
Isaiah's stowaway act underscores his determination to join the family and adds a note of comic relief.
“It was as though the boy's life had begun with this trip. The four previous years of his existence seemed to be sponged from his mind like yesterday's exercise from a slate.”
The journey was so transformative for Cim that he forgot everything before it.
Emphasizes the profound impact of the move on young Cim's identity and memory.