So Big · Chapter
VI explained
Selina begins teaching Pervus DeJong on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings at the Pool household.
What happens
Selina begins teaching Pervus DeJong on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings at the Pool household. Roelf Pool, jealous of the attention Selina gives Pervus, acts out but eventually retreats to his work-shed. Selina feels an unsettling physical attraction to Pervus, which she struggles to understand. When Pervus is absent due to illness, Selina experiences emotional turmoil. He returns on March 14, and they share an evening making taffy with the children. Selina reflects on Pervus's farm troubles and her own growing feelings.
Themes in this chapter
Ambition and Self-Fulfillment
Selina's determination to educate Pervus and Roelf reflects her drive for self-improvement and helping others rise.
Love and Marriage
Selina's growing, confusing attraction to Pervus and her pity for him hint at the complex emotions leading to their eventual marriage.
Class and Social Mobility
Education is presented as a means to escape the limitations of farm life, as seen in Selina's efforts with Roelf and Pervus.
Characters to notice
- Selina DeJong
Teaches Pervus and Roelf; struggles with emerging romantic and physical feelings for Pervus; experiences emotional distress during his absence.
- Pervus DeJong
Attends evening lessons; a gentle, earnest student; suffers from a rheumatic affliction; shares his farm difficulties with Selina.
- Roelf Pool
Jealous of Pervus; acts out but later isolates himself in the work-shed; has a deep appreciation for beauty.
- Maartje Pool
Encourages Roelf to join the lessons; attributes Selina's mood to spring.
- Klaas Pool
Approves of Roelf's free lessons; attends a gathering at Low Prairie.
- Julie Hempel
Mentioned as engaged to a Kansas man named Arnold; Selina no longer writes to her.
Key passages
“If only he had blustered. A blustering big man puts the world on the defensive. A gentle giant disarms it.”
Selina wishes Pervus were more aggressive, but his gentle nature instead makes her feel vulnerable.
Reflects Selina's internal conflict about Pervus's demeanor.
“She wanted, crazily, to touch them. She wanted to feel them about her throat. She wanted to put her lips on his hands—brush the backs of them, slowly, moistly, with her mouth, lingeringly.”
Selina experiences an intense physical desire to touch Pervus's hands, which frightens her.
Highlights Selina's awakening sexuality and confusion.
“He was unlucky, like that. It was the same with the farm. 'Spring, half of the land is under water. My piece, just.'”
Pervus considers himself unlucky in both family and farming, as his land is perpetually wet.
Establishes Pervus's struggles and Selina's pity for him.