The Nature of Progress

As the reader follows Jayber through his life, he describes his living conditions and the world around him. His father is a hard-working blacksmith with a small shop, his mother a simple hard-working housewife. His aunt and uncle depend upon the river for their livelihood, and commerce is slow and fairly uncomplicated. His description of the hog-killing illustrates a time when people depended upon farming for food and did not buy their meat from a grocery store.

As Jayber's life continues in Port William, things gradually change. The local school is closed and the children are bussed to another town. A freeway is built through the town, dividing families and neighbors from one another, and the automobile becomes the means of transportation, the freeway replaces the river for moving goods. The big city draws people who begin to buy things they do not need, in...