# Edwin explained — The Middle Five

> Chapter companion for The Middle Five by Francis La Flesche.

## What happens

Edwin, a young Omaha boy, is brought to the mission school by his father. He is renamed Edwin M. Stanton, given new clothes, and struggles to adapt to the school's customs, particularly during prayer, which he compares to hiding in the grass. The chapter also includes a flashback to Edwin's parents discussing his education and his reluctant departure from home.

## Themes in this chapter

### Cultural Identity and Assimilation

Edwin is renamed, given new clothes, and taught to follow white customs, highlighting the tension between his Omaha heritage and the school's assimilationist goals.

### Education and Discipline

The school enforces strict discipline during prayer and lessons, contrasting with Edwin's free-spirited upbringing.

### Family and Community

Edwin's parents discuss his education out of love and foresight, and the community supports sending children to the school for future benefit.

## Character check-ins

### Me

The narrator, who helps Edwin adjust to school life, sits with him at supper, and shares a bed with him and Lester.

### Edwin M. Stanton

A new boy at the mission school, renamed Edwin M. Stanton. He is curious and struggles with the school's religious practices, comparing prayer to hiding in the grass.

### Brush

Helps fit Edwin with new clothes and shares a double bed with Warren.

### Graybeard

The teacher who welcomes Edwin, registers him under a new name, and leads the prayer session.

### Lester

Wants to sleep with the narrator, and ends up sharing a wide bed with Edwin and the narrator.

### Wa-honʻ-e-ga

Edwin's father, who brings him to the school and asks the narrator to look after him.

## Key lines

> I showed him how to bow his head when the blessing was asked, and to turn his plate. He silently followed my whispered instructions, and was very quiet while supper was going on, but during the religious exercises which followed, when we dropped on our knees, he became very anxious to know why we did so.

The narrator teaches Edwin the school's mealtime and prayer rituals, but Edwin becomes confused and restless during the kneeling prayer.

_Highlights Edwin's initial difficulty adapting to Christian practices._

> What are we hiding for? This is the way we do when we are hiding in the grass.

Edwin asks why everyone is kneeling, comparing it to hiding in the grass, a reference to Omaha hunting or play.

_Shows Edwin's cultural perspective and misunderstanding of the prayer._

> I don't want the little one to go. Why don't you send the two big boys; they're hardly ever home anyway, and they might as well be at the house of the White-chests as anywhere else. What would the house be without the little one? We'd be very lonely, at least I'd be.

Edwin's father expresses reluctance to send his youngest son to school, fearing loneliness, and suggests sending the older boys instead.

_Reveals the emotional conflict within the family about sending children to the mission school._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_middle_five_se/chapters/iii-edwin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_middle_five_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_middle_five_se/chapters