# The "Vandoo" explained — Driven Back to Eden

> Chapter companion for Driven Back to Eden by Edward Payson Roe.

## What happens

The family attends a farm auction (a 'vendue') where Mr. Jones helps them bid on livestock and goods. They acquire a cow with a calf, an old horse, a wagon, harness, chickens, and houseplants. Junior reveals a tender side by buying plants for Mousie. Back home, the narrator struggles with the ill-tempered cow Brindle but gradually tames her through kindness, proving his theory that animals respond to gentle treatment.

## Themes in this chapter

### Community and Neighborliness

Mr. Jones assists the family at the vendue, and the auction itself becomes a community gathering with neighbors joking and helping each other.

### Self-Reliance and Hard Work

The narrator learns to milk and tames the vicious cow Brindle through persistent kindness, demonstrating self-reliance and practical problem-solving.

### Family and Parental Duty

The narrator buys a chair for his wife and a geranium for Mousie, and Junior shows care for Mousie by purchasing plants for her, reflecting familial bonds.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Jones

Arrives with a farm wagon, advises on bidding, and helps the narrator acquire livestock and chickens at the vendue.

### Junior

Fills the wagon with straw for a ride, punches a bully, buys houseplants for Mousie, and teaches the narrator how to milk the cow.

### Merton

Charged with watching the children at the sale; later laughs at the narrator's milking mishap.

### Bobsey

Eats heartily at the free lunch and gives a pert reply to a mountaineer.

### Winnie

Promises to obey orders at the sale and declares she will hear the first crow and get the first egg from the new chickens.

### Mousie

Consoled with the hope of a gift from the vendue; receives a geranium from the narrator and houseplants from Junior, who becomes her favorite.

## Key lines

> There’s allers changes and breakin’s up in the spring

Spring always brings changes and disruptions.

_Mr. Jones explains why the family is selling everything and moving west._

> I believe she had been treated harshly by her former owners.

I think her previous owners were cruel to her.

_The narrator reflects on why the cow Brindle was initially so wild and vicious._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se/chapters/xxi-the-vandoo
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/driven_back_to_eden_se/chapters