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The Rosewood Casket by Sharyn Mc Crumb Introduction The paper is concentrated around the discussion of the book 'The Rosewood Casket' by Sharyn Mc Crumb, which was published in 1996. The main issue to be discussed in the paper will be the stewardship, the kinds of stewardship, which appear in the book in connection with the two specific characters that of Clayt Stargill, one of the Randal Stargill's four sons, who is supposed to be a positive steward, and Nora Bonesteel, who used to be Randal's sweetheart, and whose stewardship is supposed to be negative, but only at first sight, which will be discussed later. Discussion of stewardship The kinds of stewardship addressed in the book, and related to the characters of Nora and Clayt, are the ones which touch land (Clayt) and the box with the bones to be buried with Randal (Nora). The positive side of Clayt's stewardship lays in the fact, that he wants to keep the land, which belonged to his father, in the family, not giving it to the developers, who come to Appalachia, hunting for it.
The seriousness of the land stewardship's question is seen through the actions of Dovey, who wanted to shot a wealthy realtor Frank Whitscarver, but wounded the Sheriff instead. As Robert Lee has noticed, ''People around here are not sane on the subject of land. I get the feeling that Clayt would do the same thing, if it came to that'. (p. 340) Though it can hardly be said, that Clayt would do the same thing. His main stewardship role was in trying to persuade the other family members in the necessity to keep the land: 'it is Stargill land.
It's our turn to say what becomes of it' (p. 283) Another kind of stewardship, presented in the book, is the one related to Nora. On the one hand, she acts as a woman, who wants to fulfill the wish of the dying person by asking the Stargill family members to bury a box with human bones together with Randal. On the other hand, the negative side of this stewardship is in the fact that no one knows, to whom these bones belong and Nora is reluctant in opening the truth. ''Farms can be dangerous to little folks', - says Nora as if to herself (p. 181), but in fact this is the phrase which will later lead to a new discovery. However, this negativity is viewed only at the beginning of the story with the box, as in reality the bones belonged to Randal's little sister, whose ghost was regularly visiting Nora in her house. Having read the story to the very end, it becomes clear, that in fact both kinds of stewardship are good. Clayt's stewardship is good in trying to keep the land, which belongs to his family through finding a legal solution to the difficult situation: ' I cant live with any solution that includes a developer'. (p. 284) Nora's stewardship, seeming to be negative at the surface, turns to be the opposite, as she reveals the true story of the box in her desire to keep the good attitude of Randal's children toward him: 'But what are we going to tell the family about the bones?
The truth?' Nora shook her head. 'Not all of it. They need to remember their father in a better light than this. ' (p. 413) The main challenges, which both characters meet on their ways to be good stewards, are the human relations, which should be kept positive despite any life situations that may occur. In case with Clayt these are the relations in connection with the land sale, in Nora's case these are the attitude of the family members towards their father, which might be kept positive even through Nora herself becoming a negative character for them. Conclusion After having read the story, I have understood that human relations are the most important in our life, and there are serious responsibilities, which we carry in relation to other participants of our life path. At times, keeping a secret is the best way out to save stable positive relations in the family. Those, who are alive, should always be good to those, who are already dead, despite the possible secrets, which they take with them after being buried.
Works cited Mc Crumb, Sharyn. The Rosewood Casket. New York: New American Library, 1996.
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