# The Hunter's Family explained — Travel Essays

> Chapter companion for Travel Essays by Robert Louis Stevenson.

## What happens

This chapter introduces the Hanson family, particularly Rufe Hanson and his wife, along with her brother Irvine Lovelands. Rufe is a hunter and amateur detective, grave and artistic, while Irvine is a crude, self-absorbed clodhopper. The chapter contrasts the two types of rusticity: the hunter living in nature and the clodhopper living outside society.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Inequality

The chapter explores the distinct class of 'Poor Whites' in America, contrasting their rustic independence with the ignorance and vanity of figures like Irvine Lovelands.

### Nature and the Sublime

Rufe Hanson's connection to nature as a hunter and his artistic eye reflect a deep engagement with the natural world, while Irvine remains oblivious to it.

### Human Connection and Community

The Hansons' visits and interactions with the narrator highlight the social bonds and communal life in the remote Silverado setting.

## Character check-ins

### Rufe Hanson

A hunter and amateur detective, grave and deliberate, with an artistic eye and a deep, quiet nature.

### Mrs. Hanson

Rufe's wife, a comely, outspoken woman with a loud laugh, often in and out of the Silverado camp.

### Irvine Lovelands

Mrs. Hanson's brother, a crude, self-absorbed clodhopper who works cutting wood and boasts of his intelligence.

## Key lines

> There is quite a large race or class of people in America, for whom we scarcely seem to have a parallel in England.

America has a distinct class of rural people unlike any in England.

_Introduces the 'Poor White' class._

> Rufe himself combined two of the qualifications, for he was both a hunter and an amateur detective.

Rufe was both a hunter and a detective.

_Highlights Rufe's dual skills._

> He lay long in bed in the morning—rarely indeed, rose before noon; he loved all games, from poker to clerical croquet.

Rufe slept late and enjoyed various games.

_Describes Rufe's leisurely habits._

> Irvine Lovelands was the most unmitigated Caliban I ever knew.

Irvine was the most boorish person I have ever met.

_Compares Irvine to Shakespeare's Caliban._

## Links

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