2086985bossard El Rol Del Fantasma

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The Role of the Guest: A Study in Child DevelopmentAuthor(s): James H. S. Bossard and Eleanor S. Boll

Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, The American Family and Its Housing (Apr., 1947), pp. 192-201

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2/11

THE

ROLE

OF THE

GUEST:

A

STUDY

IN

CHILD

DEVELOPMENT*

JAMES H. S.

BOSSARD AND

ELEANOR S.

BOLL

Universityf Pennsylvania

T

-IE

IMPORTANCE

of family nd

home

experience

n the

child's

development

is

recognized y

all the

sciences eal-

ingwith

human

behavior;

much ess atten-

tion

has

been given

to the factors

and

processes

nvolved.

Particularly

triking s

the

failure o

study uch an

important

ac-

tor

as therole of

the

guest.What s

the role

of

the guest

n

familyife,with

particular

referenceo the child'sdevelopment?his

article s a report

n

one phase of a

larger

study n

the roleof the

guest. t is

based on

an

analysis f 200

published

utobiographies,

to

ascertain o

what xtent he

uthorsmade

any

referenceo guests

n their arly

home

life

orpersonal

evelopment.he only

basis

of

selectionwas

that the

authorsmusthave

written

o

someextent f

their arly ife.

This

particularuse

of

autobiographical

material n the studyof behaviorcan be

related o

thediscussions

f

Allport, rueger,

Burr,

Murchison

nd

others.1ts use in

the

present

tudy as

a specific

urpose,naddi-

tion

to

any

other alues

nherentn

it.

This

purpose s

to show to

what

extent

nd

in

what

ways

persons,hiefly

f distinctionnd

intelligence,ho urvey

n

maturer

ears

he

"scenes f

their

hildhood,"

mphasize,

ith-

out the

promptings

r

suggestions

f

a re-

search

project,

he role of the

guest

n

their

earlyfamilyifeand personaldevelopment.

In

otherwords,

ow do

persons o

whom he

importance

f a

guest

has

notbeen

suggested

by

questionersnd

questionnaires

riteof

family uests

n their

arly

ife

development?

It is believed hatthe answer

o

these

ues-

tions

s

ofvalue:

first,

s

an

indication

fthe

importance

hich uthors

f

autobiographies

attach

to

the roleof the

guest;second,

s

a

revelation

f the

ways n which

heguest s

considered o be

important;

nd third,

or

the eads

which t suggests

orthe

personal

interviews

which

constitute

subsequent

part

of a larger

tudy.

CHARACTERISTICS

OF THE

AUTHORS OF

THE

AUTOBIOGRAPHI ES

In the

argemajority

f cases,

the uthor's

success

n

someoccupation

r

profession

n-

spired

hewriting

f

his

life-story.

ut

lack

of

success

was also

an

instigator

f

self-

revelation,

s

was the

ccident

f

royal

irth,

or

ust

a rich r

extraordinary

ife.Below

s

a

list

of

the adult

status

of

the

people

whose

guest

experiences

e are

studying:

4 editors

I

publisher

5I

writers

25

novelists

5

poets

3 playwrights

4

newspaper

cor-

respondentsnd

journalists

4

biographers

2

historians

8 others

4 diplomats

congressman

I

member

of House

of

Commons

i governor

I President

f

U.S.A.

I naval

intelligence

f-

ficer

I fleet aptain

I soldier

I business xecutive

I building ommissioner

I physically

fflicted

person

3 members f racial

minority

roup

2

members

f

royalty

5 doctors

2 artists

photographer

i cartoonist

5 actors

opera

singer

i musician

6 teachers and

pro-

fessors

I physicist

psychologist

i

botanist

I

philologist

i engineer

i lawyer

I inventor

i

clergyman

I

Jesuit

I

explorer

i

rancher

4 travellers

I cook

I

welfare fficer

I

social worker

I social reformer

I

relief ase

The sex

and nationality

f theauthors

s

found

n the following

hart:

*

Paper read before

the annual meeting

of the

American

Sociological Society,

Chicago, Illinois,

December

7-30,

I946.

1

Cf. Allport, Gordon

W.,

The

Use of

Personal

Documents

n Psychological

cience,Social

Science

Research Council,

New

York,

1942. The report

contains

an

extended

bibliography.

192

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3/11

THE ROLE OF THE GUEST

I93

Male Female

Total

American

39 25

64

British

nd European

32

I4

46

Russian

2

3

5

Japanese

I I

Latin

American

I I

Total

53 44

II7

Most of

the authors

ecalled nd

reported

on

the guests

who visited

hemwhen they

were

children ot

yet in their

eens.Only

32 visits

made during he

adolescence f

the

authorwere

recorded, s

overagainst

52

madewhile

he author

was a young

hild.

INCIDENCE

OF GUEST

NARRATIVES IN

AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

The first utstanding

act is that in

a

group

of

200

autobiographies,

elected

at

random,

but including

he period of

the

author's childhood,

I7 contained

direct

references

o guests

entertained

t home.

Eighty-three

ade

no mention

f anyvisi-

tors.

Those authors

who did write

of guests

varied considerablyn the extent o which

they

ncluded uest xperiences

s important

parts of

their

history.These

variations

ranged

rom

two- r three-line

uest

refer-

ence

to whole chapters

devoted

to

visitors

and the

entertainment

f

them. n but

two

cases,

though,

id

the authormention

uests

in such an

incidentalway

as

to

make

the

readerassume

thatneither

he fact of

the

entertaining

or

the

guest

himself ad

made

uponthe childan important,onsciousm-

pression

which lasted

into adulthood.

All

of

the

other

5

authors

elated heir

uest

experiences

s

vivid,

lasting impressions,

worthy

f

record

s

part

of

a

family

r of

a personal

history.

AMOUNT

OF ENTERTAINING

The amount

f

entertaining

f guestsby

the

authors'

families

lso varied

a

great

deal.

Half

of the writers

ave

their

readers

no clue

to the

frequency

f

visiting

n their

homes.

The

other

half

were

quite

specific.

Forty-five

entioned

hat

their

arents

ad

guests

frequently,

r

almost all

the

time.

Eight

wrote

hat here

were

very

fewvisitors

to

their

omes,

ndthree

mentioned

imes

n

their

ives

when

their

entertaining

abits

changed

radically,

rom ften

o seldom,

r

the

reverse.

The amount fentertainingonehad no

marked

correlation

with the

importance

given

o

guests

n the

ife-story.

ne

of the

merely

ncidental

eferences

as

made

to

let

thereader

now

hat

he

author's

ather

ad

many

isitors;

while

ome

fthe

uthors

who

stated

that they

had

few guests

devoted

pages

tothe

description

fthose

ew.

In the

II7

life

stories,

here

were

232

separate

allusions

to

guests

visiting

the

home.Thesehavebeenstudied ndividually

in the

analysis

f

guest

xperiences

hich

s

to follow.

They

were

of two kinds.

First,

there

was the

allusion

to

guests

n

general

and

to the

ntertaining

f

them.

heseserved

to show

he

kinds

f

guests

hat

ame

to

the

home,

nd

thekinds

fentertainment

ffered

them;

howparents

eacted

generally

n

the

presence

f

guests;

and

how

children

cted,

or

were

supposed

to

act.

There were

36

such

references.

econd,

herewas

the

men-

tion ofa specific uestornumber fguests

at a specific

ime.

There

were

66 such

allu-

sions.

ANALYSIS

OF

GUEST

NARRATIVES

Some

of the observations

made

in

the

autobiographies

bout

the

role of

the

guest

in

the

family

were choed

lmost

dentically

by

author

fter

uthor.

These

are

assumed

to

be

common

features

f

the entrance

f

visitorsntoa family ircle, t leastfor his

group

of

writers.

hey

are

classified

elow,

and described

y

selected

xamples

rom

he

guest-narratives.

i. The

guest

s

a standard or

measuring

parents.

A

frequent

ommon

memory

f

guests

mentioned

y

autobiographers

as

that

of

a

comparison

f the

guest

with

a

parent.

The

newness

f

the

behavior

of

a

guest,

s

contrasted

iththe familiarity

f

the

parent's

personality,

ometimes

made

children ery ensitive o traitswhich hey

had either

aken

for

granted

r

hadnot

been

aware

of

before.

Here

are

some

examples:

One

of

his

father's

Sunday

Evenings"

was a long-remembered

ye-opener

o

one



4/11

I

94 AMERICAN

SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW

of

the

writers.

he

father

had the

utmost

contempt

or

anyone

who could

not do

a

stuntto

add

to

the entertainment.

t

was

his

only

condemnation

f anyone.

Joe,

a

guest, ouldnotdo stunts.He was a quiet,

reticent

man,

ndwas figuratively

ast

aside

by

his host

as having

no

"gumption."

ne

night

a bathroom

pipe

burst,

releasing

torrent

f

waterthrough

he

ceiling.

ather

was

helpless;

but

Joe

very

quietly

set

about

repairing

he eak.

The

childthought:

this s

no time

for

nit-wit

ntertainer.

nd

his

mother

mentioned

hat

his father

ould

nothave

fixed hat

thing

n

a million

ears.2

An authorreports hatas a boy he was

thrilled

y a guest

who

romped

with

him

and never

eemed

o

grow ired.

His

father,

he realized,

id

not

knowhowto

play

with

youngsters,

nd

ifhe

tried,

he

play always

ended

n cross

words

nd

tears.'

The

behavior

f

a mother

ho

was always

cold

and

harsh toward

her daughter

was

highlighted

orstill

another

writer

n

the

occasion

whena

young

ady

guest

ook

her

upon

her

lap

and

fondled

er.

The

mother

suddenly oseand knocked erchildto the

floor.

The

guest

departed

nd never

came

back,

but the

girl

always

remembered

he

sharp

contrast

etween

he guest's

behavior

and her

mother's.4

VivianHughes

used

to

isten o

hermother

entertaining.

he

was

pleased

and

amused

by

her

mother's

ntelligence

nd

sense

of

humor

s

compared

with

the

stupidity

f

the

usual

female

isitors"

who

njoyed

nly

worries nd grievances. he used to count

thetimes

hese

females

aid

"Yes"

in

answer

to

her mother's

actful

ttempts

o

divert

them

with

ome

new

topic;

and

once,

during

an uneasy ilence

she

told

her

mother

hat

she

knew

what hewas

thinking:

What

could

she

possibly

ay

next?5

In

some

cases,

t was

not

so

much

direct

comparison

f

personalities

s

it

was

the

guests'

stimates

f parents

whichgave

new

insight

o

the

children.

dgar

Lee

Masters

was

very

much gratified

y

the

frequent

visitsof his schoolteacherto his mother,

who

hadhad

no great mount

f

formal

du-

cation,

but

who

had

read

widely,

nd

had

such

a

lively

wit

and

sense

of

narrative

hat

she

wasquite

match

or

he

chool

mistress,

and

kept

her

roaring

withlaughter.6

nd

William

Gerhardi

sed

to watch

his

mother

dancing

t the

balls

given

for

his

sister.

he

mother

was

much

ought

fter

s

a partner,

and

theboy

felt

hat

some

of

themen

who

came to thehouseweremore attracted o

herthan

to

his sister.

He saw

her,on

those

occasions,

s

beautiful

nd youthful

ooking.7

Their

parents'

ehavior

efore

uests

was

also a

revelation

o

the

children:

n

some

cases

t was

a source

f newpride;

n others,

a severe

disappointment.

When

he

Reverend

ropped

n

to see

the

father

f

one

author,

nd asked

his

host

fhe

did

notfeel

nearer

o heaven

very

day,

his

host

answered,

I can't say

that

do."

His

son,listening, as overjoyed t his father's

honesty

nd

bravery,

or

he

hated

cant.8

But

another

writer

went

through

gonies

watching

is

father

show

off"

nd

"tell

tall

tales"

to thevery

espectable

men

he

brought

home.

The boy

was

sure

those

men

knew

that his

father

was

a shallow iar,

and

he

could

not

understand hy

they

hould

put

up

with

him.9

2.

Theguest

s a

measure ffamily

tatus.

A family as status nly ncomparison ith

the tatus

f

others.

mall

children

re

often

well

insulated

rom

he

recognition

f

their

family's

tanding

y

a lackof that

compari-

son.

But sometimes,

he

guest

serves

to

reveal

he

family's

lace,

ocially,

eligiously,

or morally.

The daughter

of a

well-to-do

Russian

2

Feeney,

Leonard,

Survival

Till

Seventeen,

New

York,

Sheed

and

Ward,

1941,

pp.

24-48.

8'Nexo,

MartinAnderson,Underthe Open Sky,

New

York,

Vanguard

Press,

I938,

pp.

I07-I08.

'Lynch,

IHannah,

Autobiography

f

a

Child,

New

York,

Dodd,

MIead

and Company,

899,

p.

48.

'Hughes,

Vivian,

A

London

Child

of

the

Seven-

ties,

London,

OxfordUniversity

ress, 934,

p.

89.

'Masters,

Edgar

Lee,

Across

Spoon

River,

New

York,

Farrar

and

Rinehart,

nc., I936,

p.

66.

' Gerhardi,William,Memoirsofa Polyglot,New

York,

Alfred

.

Knopf,

93I,

p.

49.

'Long,

Augustus

White,

Son of

Carolina,

Dur-

ham,

Duke University

ress,

939,

71-72.

'Sherwood

Anderson's

Memoirs,

New

York,

Harcourt,

Brace

and

Company,

942,

p.

45.



5/11

THE ROLE

OF THE GUEST

patriarch

reveals

that she

did not know

she was living

n luxury,

o accustomed

o

it was

she.

But on Christmas,

hen ll the

peasants

from er

father'sstate ame

to

be

entertainednd to receivegiftsfromhim,

the girlwas

given

picture f her

family's

position

in

that

country.'0

A farmboy,

though, ellsof his

resentmentf

the yearly

visitsof his town unts,because

they et

it

be

seen that

heir ister

admarried

eneath

her.

He disliked o

see hismother

ut on airs

for

hem,

nd thenbecome

ubdued

nspirit

before heir

uperiority."

A successful ovelist

ecallsher

family's

ups and downs in status as reflected y

guests

nd lack of

guests.Her father,

who

had a succession

f wives

and mistresses,

lived n a

very respectable"

uburb,

ndno

one came to call.

The children

new why.

But Father finally ook

in, without enefit

ofcertificate,woman

who ooked respect-

able." Guests

began to

arrive,

and with

them the consciousness

f

a

new

family

status.'

It was through

he chance

remark f

a

thoughtlessguest that Kathleen Coyle

learned the secret,

hitherto arefully

ept

fromher, hat

herfather

was

in an

institu-

tion.'3

A

doctor,

hoseCatholic

mother

admar-

ried

a Protestant,

earned that there

was

something

nusual

bout

his

family,

ecause

the

two ets of

n-laws

lternated

isits,

ach

trying

o salvage

the

souls

of the children f

such

a

marriage.14

3. The guestmay extend hehorizon f

beliefs

and

customs.

Most

young

children

seem to

be

strongly

onvicted

f

the

belief

that

there

s

only

one

true

religious

aith,

one

honest

olitical

arty,

ne

right

ode

of

ethics,

ne

"proper"

way

of

doing

certain

things,

nd

that

people

who believe

nd

do

differently

re

not themselves

proper."

Often,

his

s

notso much

heresult

f

per-

sonal

smugness

r

of

deliberate

arental

n-

doctrination,s it is of a lack of intimacy

with

people

whose

beliefs

nd customs

re

unlike

heir

wn.

The

guest

who

s

accepted

by

parents

s

a

"proper"

person

often

dis-

closes

to

thechildren

n his visits

point

f

view

different

rom,

r

directly

pposite

o,

those

the

family

ntertains.

ometimes

he

children

re

very

much

shocked

by

these

revelations,

ut

nevertheless

hey

come

to

see

that people

they

know

and like

act

dif-

ferentlyndholdviewsdifferentromheirs.

Pierre

an

Paassen

says

he was

introduced

to

matzoth

when

a

Jewish

woman

brought

some

to

his

family

on

Passover.

Pierre's

mother

as

distressed

hat

he

could

not

re-

turn

he

favor

y

sending

ack

some

of

her

own

fresh-baked

ookies.But,

he

explained,

the

Jewish

riends

ould

not

eat

food

pre-

pared

in a

non-Jewish

ome.

That,

surely,

was

a

puzzle

to figure

ut.15

One

man

tells

of

how,

as

a

boy,

he

watched

the

clergyman

whohad stopped n for hehabitualfamily

prayer

eriod.

t

was

a

highly

onventional-

ized

observance.

ach

member

f the

family

took

a

chair

and,

kneeling

down,

leaned

against

the

seat

of

it,

while

going

through

the

form fprayer.

This clergyman

imply

dropped

o

his

knees,

without

ny

support

at all-an

amazing

procedure.

But

what

struck

he

boy

even

moreforcibly

as

that

to

the

reverend entleman

rayer

seemed

"real." Withthefamilyt had become ust

a

form.16

In

the

realm

of

politics,

ne author

was

shocked,

s

a

youth,

by

the

visit

to

his

Liberal

household

of

a

lady

who

shouted

Tory

principles

nd

thought

Mr.

Gladstone

"a

dreadful

man."'7

And

Julian

Green

re-

ports

that

his charming

oung

ousin,

who

was

a

loyal

Southerner

ut who

did

not

take

her

politics

so

seriously

s

did

Julian's

1

Radziwill,

Princess

Catherine,

t

Really

Hap-

pened,

ew

York,

Dial

Press,

nc.,

I932,

pp.

28-29.

"

Cole,

Cyrenus,

I

Remember,

I

Remember,

Iowa,

State

Historical

Society

of Iowa,

I936,

67-69.

12

Wylie,

.

A.

R.,

My

Life

With

George,

ew

York, Random House,

I940,

p. 74 and 8i.

13

Coyle,

Kathleen,

The Magical

Realm,

New

York,

E. P.

Dutton

and

Company,

nc.,

I943,

pp.

i67-i69.

14Aughinbaugh,

illiam

E.,

I Swear By

Apollo,

New

York,

Farrar

and Rinehart,

nc.,

I938, pp.

6-8.

"Van Paassen, ierre, ays ofOurYears,New

York,

Nillman-Curl,

nc.,

939,

pp.

24-25.

16Housman,

awrence,

he

Unexpected

ears,

New

York,

Bobbs-Merrill

Company,

936,

p.

35.

"

Baring,

aurice,

he

Puppet

how

f

Memory,

Boston,

ittle,

Brown

nd

Company,

922,

p. IS.



6/11

I96

AMERICAN

SOCIOLOGICAL

REVIEW

family, earlybrought

n

a family risis

when he started

o

play on the

piano the

hated

song, Marching

hrough

Georgia."'18

At home,Norman

Hapgood had

always

heardpeopledividednto hecategoriessel-

fish"

nd"unselfish,"

ndhad never

hought

to tamper

with thatdivision.

A visitor

e-

marked

hatself-seeking

as by

no means

always

bad. It could

as

oftenbe right

s

wrong.Norman

wrote f

that experience

s

hisfirstesson

n

relativity,

nd

he believed

it had some

nfluencen his later

career.19

Two of the

autobiographers

earned

ome-

thing bout relative

morality

rom

uests

n

theirhome.The young untof one ofthem

had

been sold

to

a

house

of ll-fame,nd

the

boy

metherfor he

first imewhen

hecame

to

his

home

after he

had been

rescued.

He

had

not expected o

findher what

he was:

a

pretty,

merry

girl, always singing.

He

wrote,

"I

began

to

understand hat

not

everything

n

life was so

dreadful

as

it

seems t

first ntil

one knows."20

he other

writer,who

learned a

similar

esson,

came

to

admire

womanwho

"couldn't ay no,"

but who was generous, heerful nd self-

sacrificing,

nd

whom

no one

could

really

consider s

bad.2"

4. The

guest

as a measureof

the

con-

sistency f

adults

in

precept

nd

practice.

Children ften

have the

opportunity

o

ob-

serve

n

theprivacy

f

the

family

ircle

hat

parents

do

not

always practice

what

they

preach.

But the

social gathering

ogether

f

adults

can increase he

opportunity

or

uch

observations, hen those adults are being

companionable

r

convivial,

nd

forgetful

f

thepenetrating

crutiny

f

the

younger

en-

eration.

n

both

morals

nd

manners, uests

revealed

dult nconsistencies

o

the

authors

of the

autobiographies.

A

parsonkept

visiting

he

homeof

one

writerto try

to

convert

the father

who

never

went

o church.

he

son

noticed

hat,

though

heparson's

efforts

ere

unsuccess-

ful,

he consumed

allons

of goodrye

while

making

hem.22

nd

Vivian

Hughes

tells

of

the

vicar's

wife,

who,accepting

er

hostess'

complaint bout thedullness f thevicar's

sermons,

uggested,

within

hearing

of the

child,

hat

her hostess

meditate

nstead

f

listening.

hat's

what

do."23

Wasn't

that

practically

eresy?

An

actor's

daughter

writes

of the

night

that she

was

awakened

by the

noise

of a

party,

otout

ofbed

andslipped

n

amongst

the guests

unnoticed.

Beer

and

rye

were

abundant.

Her

family

members

ere

dressed

in theirwrappers. manwas holdingMam-

ma'shand.

Another

as

trying

o

kiss

Nana,

a favorite

unt.

He was

"nosing"

nto

the

lace

cascade

on

thefront

fher

wrapper.24

A guest

n another

home

was remembered

becausehe

tried o

get

ntothe

room

f

the

servant girl

in

the

middle

of

the

night.

Next

morning

e said

that

hough e

prayed

to resist

dultery,

he

Lord

always

put

fresh

temptation

n his

way.

The youngster

thought

hat

this

was

"passing

he buck"

in

a verystrangeway.2d

One autobiography

ells f

a

boy

watching

a series

of scenes

between

he

Jewish

tep-

father-in-law

nd

his

mother.

he

man,

who

cameto

visit,

had to

have

his foodprepared

in

the

orthodox

manner,

making

a

lot

of

trouble

for the

lady

of the house.After

time,

he

suspected

hat

the

lady

was

only

petending

o

prepare

his

food

properly.

he

youngster

newthat

these

suspicions

were

correct. is mother as onlypretending.26

The

manners

f other

guests

did

not

live

up

to

the

standards

which

dultssaid they

required.

Writers

mentioned

ne

whobelched

frequently

ehind

his

hand at table,27

nd

another,

ho,

when

child

played

he

piano

'8 Green,

Julian,

Memories

of Happy

Days,

New York, Harper and Brothers,

942,

pp. 25-28.

"

Hapgood,

Norman,

The Changing

Years,

New

York,

Farrar

nd Rinehart,

930,

pp.

I7-I9.

20

Chaliapine,

Feodor, Ivanovitch,

Pages

From

My

Life,

New

York,

Harper

and Brothers,

927,

p.

3.

21

Ellis

Anne,

The

Life of

an Ordinary

Woman,

New

York,

Houghton

Mifflin

Company,

929,

p.

58.

22

Miller,

C.

Blackburn,

Hudson

Valley

Squire,

New

York,

Frederick

A. Stokes

Company,

I94I,

p.

I4.

23Hughes,

Vivian,

op.

cit.,

p.

89.

24

Bernstein,Aline, An Actors Daughter,New

York,

Alfred

A.

Knopf,

94I,

pp. I42-I49

and

io8-i

I1.

25

Van

Paassen,

p.

cit.,

p.

30-31.

2?

Cournos,

John,

Autobiography,

New

York,

E.

P.

Putnam's

ons,

935,

pp.

28-30.

27

Petrova,

Olga,

Butter

With

My Bread,

New

York,

Bobbs-Merrill

Company,

942,

p.

3I.



7/11

THE ROLE OF THE

GUEST

for him, shouted that that girl could not

play and neverwouldbe able to.28Neither

guest was reproached

or his behavior. t

was acceptedby theother dults.But it was

not the kindof behavior dultswould toler-

ate in children.

5. The guest s a medium

or eaching er-

tain rulesof social behavior.n the nformal

atmosphere f the family,

considerable

laxity f manners nd

widechoice f conver-

sationtopics re permitted

hat re not suf-

fered utside he family

ircle.

A

mother an

hardly anticipatefor

her young child all

of thesedifferences.et,most hildrenome-

how attainthatknowledgey the time hey

reach their arly teens.

One of the roles of

theguest eems

to

be

to

help clarify

or

he

child

what s, and what

s not, expectedn

"polite society"

n

his

own particular ocial

rank. Sometimes, ismissal

from he scene,

becauseof theparents'

nability o cope with

the

situation

efore

uests,

marks

he

esson

indelibly. lso,pre-guest arangues etween

parentswho do not approve f each other's

behaviorbeforeguests

make children ar-

ticularly een to see whowillwin out when

the

guest does arrive.Autobiographers

e-

scribe nstances f all thesekindsof essons

on how

to

behave

when

n

outsider

oins

the

family.

Differences

n

table

mannerswere ex-

pected

when

guests

were

present.

Frazier

Huntwrites hathis uncle,

n whose

home

he

lived, iked to eat his

pie from he same

plate on which

his meat and vegetables

ad

been. It tastedbetterthatway. Frazier's

aunt did not

approve,

nd

let

it

be

known.

But

Uncle would

not be

intimidated;

hat

is,

not

untilvisitors

ame

to

dinner. hen

he

had to

make

a concession.29

rand

Duchess

Marie, whena

little

girl,

found

hat

when

there

was a visitor he

could

not take

any

part

in

the conversation,

ut

could

only

answer uestions

when sked

them. he

had

to sit,between ourses,

with he

tips

of her

fingers

n the

edge

of the

table,

and if

she

forgothe was reprimanded.30

A number

f writers emembered

eing

sent from he

roomforbehaviorwhich hey

had not knownwouldget them

ntotrouble.

One, when a

little boy, was absorbed n

listening to some breezy gossip of his

mother'swhen

the vicar came to call. He

waited atientlyor hevicar o

be welcomed

and seated and then sked his

mother o go

on with he torybout.... He

was promptly

sent upstairs.3'

nother, hen smallchild,

found erbabychamber-potidden

way n

a closet. She

was ecstaticoverfinding er

old

friend nd

thought hat her mother

and the uncheon uestswould

be too. So she

ran into the room and displayed t. Her

mother ainted,nd thegirlwas

banished o

the attic.32

third ellsof hearing he cook

say that if

the vicar came to tea much

oftener e

would eat Auntie out of house

and home.

The girlthought he

vicar ought

to know, o shetold him. But

she was sent

to

bed without

ny upper.33he impressions

made by these

experiences

were deep

and

long-lived.heyprobably rought

he

dawn-

ing of the consciousness

f conversational

taboos.

6. The guestmay change

normal amily

regimen nd

occasion special

privileges or

the

children.

ome of the

authors

remem-

bered

how

enchanted

hey

had been

with

he

changes

n usual

family

egimen hen

guests

came.

The "room,"

a

parlor-bedroom,

as

used

n

the

daytime nly

when

guests ame;

specialcompany

ups

and

saucers

wereused

instead

f the

usual

dinner-ware;

beautiful

white tableclothwas put on the table in-

stead

of the

red-checked

ne used

for the

family.

Company

towels" nstead

of meal

sacks,

company

oap"

instead f the

yellow

kind company

issue"

nstead

f

eaves

from

a mail-order

atalogue-all

were

xciting

if-

ferences

n home

ifewhen

guest

ame.34

'Lee,

Jennie,

This

Great Journey,

New

York,

Farrar

Rinehart,

nc., 1942,

pp.

37-4I.

'

Hunt,

Frazier,

One

American,

New

York,

Simon

and Schuster,

938,

pp.

7-8.

'

Marie,

Grand

Duchess

of

Russia,

Education

of

a

Princess,New

York,

Viking

Press,

193I,

p.

36.

a'

Finger,

Charles,

Seven

Horizons,

New

York,

Doubleday,

Doran,

Company,

nc.,

1930,

pp.

I0-II.

82

Millar,

Mara,

Hail to

Yesterday,

s told

to

Page Cooper, New York, Farrar and Rinehart.

194I,

pp.

22-23.

s

Gilder,

Jeanette,

The

Autobiography

of

a

Tomboy,

New

York, Doubleday,

Page

and

Com-

pany,

1901,

p.

91.

'

Hunt,

Frazier,

op. cit.,pp.

8-9; Hurston,

Zora

Neale,

Dust

Tracks

On

A

Road,

New

York,

J.

B.

Lippincott

Company,

942,

p. 34;

McClure.

S.

S.



8/11

i98

AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW

But personal

privileges

were even more

interesting.

hen

Paderewski

ame to call,

the

children

n

one of the

author's

homes

were llowed o

comedownstairso

hearhim

play.3`Anothermusician's isitspermittted

Andre'Gide to sit

up long

past his usually

inflexibleedtime

o thathe could

hear the

concert.";

David

Fairchildwrites

that

his

father id notapprove

fDickens,

ut could

notprotest

when

guest ead

David Copper-

field

to

the

young

man of

the

house,

who

always remembered

hat

wonderfulovel.:7

Walter

Damrosch recalls

Taussig's visits,

particularly

ecause of the

delicious

pple

puddingwhichMrs. Damroschmade for

him."8 longed-for

rip o

Calais,which ad

never

eenpermitted,as

attained yone of

the authors

whenhe asked

his

parents

for

permission

n thepresence

f a guest,who

beat the

parents

to the answer

and said,

"Why

not?"33 hese were

marked igh pots

in thefamily-guest

ifeofthewriters.

7.

Guests,

throu-gh

heir,

iscussions

wit/i

each

other

and

wit/i

parents,

during visits,

may

be

an intellectual stimulus

to

children.

A common bservationn the autobiogra-

phies

s that he

writers,s children,

ovedto

listen o

theconversations

f their rown-up

guests,

nd werestimulated

y them.

The

exact kind of

stimulus ependedupon

the

kinds

of peopleentertained

nd the

kind

of

entertainment

ffered

n

the

home.

In

thehomes

epresentedere,

herewere

fivenoticeably

different

abitual

ways

of

entertaininguests

First,there was the homein whichthe

adults at

in a

group

nd

indulgedn

aimless

gossip

nd

in tellingnecdotes.

ere the

hil-

dren

were

een

o

know he atest

ales

bout

people

whom heyknew.They struggled

o

keep well

posted.Also, they

oved to

hear

any simple necdotes

nd remembered

any

of them.

Second, herewas thehomen which uests

were ntertained

y

cards,

ames, nd

stunts.

Severalwritersmentioned

heir wnprowess

in beating

guests

t the gamesplayed.

Con-

versation

was restrictedn

these visits,but

one

writer ellsthat

he wasproudof

enter-

ing nto

the spirit f the games

her father's

friends layed, nd

when Mr. Fitch

won a

hard hand,

she called out,

"Good foryou,

Fitch " much o

the amusementf the

men

whothoughtt a spontaneousemark.t was,

instead,well calculated

o produce ust

the

effectt

did produce.40

A

third ype

of entertainment

as of a

very formal

ort: formal eas,

dinners

nd

balls. Conversation

erewasbroken

p into

littlegroups.

The

childrenwere stimulated

by the sense of

rank,by social

finesse, y

styles

f dress, y grace

n

dancing,nd by

personal

opularity.

A

fourth

ind

of entertainment

as

men-

tionedby two of the authors.41oth had

come frompeasant

homes

across the sea.

In these

homes

the villagers

ll

gathered

together,

hile

he

old men f thevillage

old

stories: either

folk

tales,

or

historical c-

counts of

the

country.

These

youngsters,

listenings they

sat on the

floor

f

their

homes,

ooked up to the

wisdom f the old

men,

nd

knew

heir ountry's ast.

The

fifth

ind

of

entertainmentas

give-

and-take discussionbetween intellectuals

on

topics f

mutual nterest,articularly

he

arts

nd

sciences

nd currentvents.

t

is

not

surprising

hat

this

type

of entertainment

was

greatly

n the

majority

n

homes

of

boys

nd

girls

who

grew p

towrite

heir

uto-

biographies.

ome

comments,

irect

rom he

authors,

re

worthy

f

quotation

They

[my

parents]

were

rewarded

..

by many

delight-

ful

friendships.

hinkers, riters,

nd travel-

ers gathered

bout

them.

We

childrenwere

fascinatedby discussions, ftenover our

My

Autobiography,

ew

York,

Frederick

A.

Stokes

Company,

I9I4,

pp.

5-6.

"Ellsworth,

Lincoln,

Beyond

Horizons,

New

York,

Doubleday,

Doran and

Company,

nc.,

I938,

pp.

9-Ii.

3' Gide, Andre,

f

It

Die,

New

York,

Random

House,

I935,

tr. by DorothyBussey,pp. 63-65.

"Fairchild,

David,

The World

Was MTfy

arden,

New

York, Charles

Scribner's ons,

I938,

p.

I5.

aDamrosch,

Walter,

My

Musical Life,

New

York.Charles

cribner's

ons,

924,

p.

2.

a'Aldington,

Richard,

Life

For

Life's Sake,

New

York,

The

Viking

Press,

I941,

p.

32.

"Gilder,

Jeanette,

p.

cit.,

pp.

34-35.

"

Chaliapine,

op.

cit., p.

3;

and Pupin,

Michael,

From

Immigrant

o

Inventor,

New

York,

Charles

Scribner's

Sons,

I926,

pp. 5-7.



9/11

THE ROLE

OF

THE GUEST

heads,

which

went

n in

such ssemblages."42

"The

literary

nd

artistic

ife

of the

city,

rich and

poor,

was

represented

n

our

guests]....

The gaiety

nd the

wit, nd

the

degree owhich he conversationepresented

thepulse

ofthe

times,

made

mediscontented

with

nything

ess

nmy

dult

years."43

My

mother's

ompany

nd

conversation

s the

years

went y

werenecessarily

stimulation

to any

ntelligence

possessed,

nd

I think

t

made

me precocious

none

or

twoways.

one

of them

was the

very

strong

nterest

hat

I took

in all sorts

of people."44

8. The guest

may

produce

conflicts

nd

increase amily ensions. ftenmembers f

the family

isagree

n their

stimates

f a

guest,

or

of the

guest's

behavior.

n some

cases,

in the

guest-narratives,

hese

differ-

ences became

acute

and

caused

family on-

flict.

Harriet

Munroe

used to

enjoy

watching

the games

of

the

men who

came to play

cards

with

her father.

ut

her mother

id

not

approve

of these

people

who

filled

he

house

with moke

nd

required

pittoons.

he

poetwrites hat she noticedwhenthemen

came

less

and less often;

and

that

finally

her

father

went

out

in

the

evenings

o

the

home

of a

widower,

nstead

of

bringing

is

guests

ome.45

Two

of the

authors

ell

of

their

ealousy

of

the men

who came

to

visit

their

mothers.

The

boy

was

sullen

and angry.46

he

girl

decidedupon

action

and

told

her mother's

suitor

that

it was

time

to

go

home.

Her

mother as cross nd scolded hechild,who

was,

then,

doubly

hurt.47

nother

riter e-

ports

hat

whenhe

was

a

very

ittle

boy

he

was upset

by

the

elegant

eception

ccorded

two

royal

gentlemen

ho

came

to

see his

father.

e

muchpreferred

he cook

and

the

gamekeeper,

ho

usually

visited

them.

He

slapped

one

of the

gentlemen

nthe

face

nd

was annoyed y theover-solicitousttitude

of his

parents

n the gentleman's

ehalf.49

9. The

guest

may

finite

he family

n

a

mild

conspiracy

gainst

him.

The

family

often

as a

heightened

ense

of solidarity

n

the presence

of

an

outsider,

ut at

times

circumstances

make

the family

members

more ike

fellow

onspirators.

Vivian

Hughes

tells

of the

time

a guest

came

to

call in

the

afternoon.

he

stayed

and stayed. Her hostessesgrew uneasy.

Finally,

Vivian's

mother

ose

and said

that

though

he

liked to

sit

in the

dusk

without

lights,

she hardly

expected

her guest

to

sharethat

enthusiasm.

he

auest

chuckled

and

left.

Vivian

and

her mother

urned

o

each other,

smiled

and

relaxed.

The

gas

company

had

turned

ff he supply

of gas,

and the ights

ould

not be lighted."0

The young

man

who

always

brought

se-

lessgifts

o

the

family,

ecessitating

writ-

tenthank-youote;50 heunclewhoalways

wanted

o help,

but who

instead

got

in the

wayof

everyone;5'

he

pastor

who

nvariably

turned

p

on housecleaning

ay;5-

the

mem-

bers

of the

clergyman's

ongregation

ho

feltfree

o

drop

n

at

any

time

o

comment

upon

the

behavior

f

the clergyman's

hil-

dren;53

the

man who

would

appear

ust

at

mealtime-all

of these

nspired

n the

fami-

lies

of

the

writers

he

same

feeling

f con-

spiracy gainstthemthatdrewthe family

members,

or

time

nd

an

occasion,

loser

together.

io.

The guest

may

be

a

source of

anec-

dotes

and

cue-words

hat become partof

any family's

ommon

eritage.

W.

B.

Max-

2

Sessions,

Ruth

Huntington,

ixty-Odd,

Brattle-

boro,

Vermont,

tephen

Daye

Press,

936,

p.

i6.

"

Peattie,

Roderick,

The

Incurable

Romantic,

NewYork,

Macmillian

ompany,

94I,

p.

40.

"

Maxwell,

W.

B., Time Gathered,

New

York,

D.

Appleton-Century

ompany,

I938,

p.

22.

4

Munroe,

Harriet,

A

Poet's Life,

New

York,

MacmillanCompany,

938,

p. 24.

48

Lania,

Leo,

Today

We

Are

Brothers,

oughton

Mifflin

ompany,

1942, p.

I7.

4 Harrison,

Marguerite,

There's

Always

To-

morrow,

New

York,

Farrar

and Rinehart,

935,

p.

32.

a

Fisher,

H.

A. L.,

An

Unfinished

utobiography,

London,

Oxford

University

ress,

1940,

p.

2.

Hughes,

Vivian,

op.

cit.,pp.

I9-20.

J

Ibid.,

pp.

95-96.

51

Lagerl6f,

Selma,

Memories

of

My

Childhood,

New York, Doubleday,Doran and Company,

934,

Tr.

by

Velma

Swameton

Howard,

pp.

i8i-i84.

Ibid.,

pp.

I49-I52.

s

Rice,

John

Andrew,

I

Came

Out

of

the

Eighteenth

Century,

New

York,

Harper

and

Brothers,

942,

pp.

45-46.



10/11

200 AMERICAN

SOCIOLOGICAL

REVIEW

well's

family

ad

a word

ll their wn.

They

would

say,

"May

I

Byngeyou?"

or

would

speak

of being

"Bynged."

To outsiders

t

was

just

nonsense,

ut to

the

Maxwells,

t

was full of meaning. t was coined from

thename

of

a

man,

Mr.

Bynge,who

often

stayed

through

he

dinnerhour

but

would

not

share

the

family

meal;

and

therefore

sat in

a corner

nd

watched

very

mouthful

his

hosts

ate, untilthe

custom

became

an-

noying.

Mr.

Maxwell

ays

that

his

own

chil-

dren

use

this

word,

nowing

ts

connotation,

but

probably

having

no

idea

whence

ame

the

word.5'

Cue-words

ike

this,

that

have

no meaning o others, ut which nstantly

recall

to

the

minds

of

the family

members

some

commonly-shared

xperience,

re

rich

possessions

f

family

ife.

Guests,

t

least

those

n the

homes

f

autobiographers,

eem

to

supply

good

share

of

such

words.

The

words

"Sniff,

niff,

niffin"

ent

the

Carter

family

nto

raucous

aughter.

hey

recalled

the

fact

that

Mrs.

Carter

could

never

remember

he

names

of

the

men

her

husband

brought

ome.

She

had to

supply

herself ith omeassociatedword, nd then

usually

made

an

awfulmistake

when

he

ad-

dressed

heguest.

But

when

Mr. Sniffin

as

about

to call,

the

cry

"Sniff,

niff,

niffin"

caused

a

crisis

of irrepressible

hildish

chuckles

t table,

hat

wrote

hewords

own

in

family

istory.55

"Most

appropriate,

ost

ppropriate"

e-

came part

of

the

heritage

of one

family,

recalling

hose

words

which

visitor

lways

used in referenceo a dessert alled "Poor

Man's

Pudding,"

which

he

was served

at

table.56

And,

"I'll

try

a little

goose"

invar-

iably

afforded

family

augh

in

a

home

where

the clergyman

nswered

hus,

even

after

aving

lready

had five

r six

servings

of the

goose.57

hese

words

from

hildhood

have

been

remembered

y

grown

men

and

women,

nd

included

n their

ife stories

s

cues

to

the

recall

of

cherished

xperiences

shared

n family

ife.

V

Limitationsf space permit nlypassing

mention

f

other

noticed

esults

f guest

x-

periences

o

autobiographers,

uch

as: (a)

a

sympathetic

ttitude

oward

nother

ace,

or

minority

roup,

ained

through

he

visit

of

a

member

f

that

group

to the home;

(b)

hospitality-training;

c)

lessons

n

character-

and

personality-analysis

n after

guest

fam-

ilydiscussions;

d)

direct nfluence

pon

a

child's

choice

of

career

because

of

admira-

tionfor, rhelpfrom, guest.Though

hese

results

were

of

ess concern

o the

family

s

a

whole

than

were

those

discussed

bove,

they

were

of

marked

mportance

o

the

child

in his

own

development.

VI

A

FURTHER

NOTE

ON

THE

USE OF

AUTOBIO-

GRAPHICAL

MATERIAL

In view

of

other

iscussions

fthe

use

of

autobiogaphical

aterial

n the

study

f

be-

havior nd personalityevelopment,urther

comment

uggested

y

its

use

in

the

present

study

may

be

in order.

Four

distinct

alues

seem

to

inhere

n

this

specific

xperience.

First,

t

has

a

"prospector"

alue,

that

is

to say,

t may

be

used

to

reveal

he

pres-

ence

of

"ore,"

whichobviously

s

the

first

step

n

mining

nd

refining

t.

In the

present

study,

t

will

be

recalled

hat

I

7

out

of

the

200 authors

eferred

o

the

role

of

the

guest.

Two hundred nd thirty-twoimes these

writers

hose

to delineate

moments

f

enter-

taining

t

home

s moments

f

consequence

in their

arly

family

istories.

his

certainly

would

serve

to

indicate

hat

here

s

a

sub-

ject

significant

nough

to deserve

further

study.

Not only

thepresence

ut

also

the

richness

f

the

"ore"

is

implied

n

these

f

cts.

Second,

the

use

of

autobiographical

a-

terial n

the

present

tudy

uggests

pecific

leads

for

nvestigation,

nd it doesso in two

ways.

n

thefirst

lace,

the

authors

mention

a wide

variation

f

nfluence,

anging

ll

the

way

from

he

bringing

ut

of thebest

inen

tablecloth

o theeruption

f serious

onflict

54Maxwell,

op.

cit.,

pp.

22-27.

5 Carter,John Franklin,The Rectory Family,

New

York,

Coward-McCann,

nc.,

I937,

pp.

69-75.

"8

Howe,

M.

A.

De

Wolfe,

A

Venture

n

Re-

membrance,

oston,

Little,

Brown

and

Company,

I94I,

p.

28.

"

Leslie,

Shane,

The

Film

of

Memory,

London,

Michael

Joseph,

Limited,

938,

p.

23.



11/11

ADJUSTMENTS

OF JAPANESE-AMERICAN

FAMILIES TO RELOCATION

20I

betweenparent

and child. In the second

place, the kinds

of experiences emembered

during he visitsof guestswere common

o

manyof the authors,

o that they ould be

grouped n differentategories ccording o

their special kind of influence.

n other

words, his revealspreponderances,

r areas

of concentration.

Third, t is highly

ignificanthat

all this

informations

derived from ourcesunre-

lated to the present

tudy, and compiled

without eference

o the particular

nterests

of the present roject.There was

no organ-

ized research nit

which uggested

he sub-

ject of guests r their ole npersonalitye-

velopment

o

the

authors fthese utobiog-

raphies.The information

urnished

n this

sense

s

then othobjective

nd

spontaneous.

For the uses

indicated bove,

this

makes

t

particularlyaluable.

A

fourth ossible

alue

s that he

persons

furnishinghe

autobiographical

ase mate-

rial, for

themost part,

have some

experi-

ence and

facilityn

the expression

f their

views.They

write

well, nd

verbalize eadily,

at

least

in comparison

ithpersons

not so

trained, romwhommostmaterialbearing

upon

behavior

problems

must be

secured.

Furthermore,

hey

haveexperience

n think-

ingthrough

heprocesses

f

human evelop-

ment, nd

expressing

hem

ffectively,

hich

is

one of the

basic requirements

n writing

an acceptable

utobiography.

t

must e

ad-

mitted hat

this nvolves

lso

a possible

de-

fect, o

far

s

the

possible

cientific

alue

of

the material

s concerned,

esulting

rom

striving oreffectivexpression,ossibly t

the

risk of truthfulness.

n

writing p

hu-

manmaterial,

here

s at times

hetempta-

tion to

add "the

fictional

ouch."

By way

of defense,

t

might

e

said that this

would

be less

true

in

recalling

hildhood

mpres-

sions

of family

uests

han

n

certain

ther

obvious

areas

of

life.

TRANSITIONAL ADJUSTMENTS OF JAPANESE-AMERICAN

FAMILIES TO

RELOCATION*

LEONARD BLOOM

University f

California,

os

Angeles

IN

THIS paper shall sketch

ne time

segment f an adjustment

istory.An

earlier

paper

in the Review' surveyed

the background

f the problem nd indi-

cated the methodological

nd

circumstantial

justificationsor orienting he study to an

examination f the

familial

omplex.

The

period

to

be discussed

here

begins

withthe

establishmentf

the

population

n relocation

centerswhich

was completed n November

I,

I942, eleven

months fterPearl Harbor

and sevenmonths fterthe

evacuation

be

gan. t ends

n January945 with he open-

ingof the PacificCoast to relocation.

ubse-

quent

events

will

merely

e

touched

upon.

The

data upon

which

his

study

s

based

are chiefly

f

two

sorts.

The

first

s a

struc-

tural

nalysis

f therecords

f

3000

families,

one

tenth

f those

registered

t thetime

of

evacuation. eventy ercentof thesefamily

records

ere

xtensively

upplemented

n

the

field

from

he files

of the

War

Relocation

Authority,

nd

provide

the

quantitative

documentation.

he

main classifications

re

six

structural

ategories

f family

nits

or

individuals

which

are sub-classified

y

na-

tivity Table

I). Quantitative

udgments

re

madewithin

hisframework

nd

the

differ-

ential

adjustments

f each type

have

been

analyzed.

t is

possible

n a

journal

article

only

opoint utthemodalformsfadjust-

ment.

The

second

type

of

data

comprises

some

one

hundred

histories

of

Japanese-

American

amilies

quated

with

the

struc-

tural

types.

nsights

nd the overtones

f

*An expanded version of the paper read at

the

meeting

of

the

American

Sociological

Society,

Cleveland,

March -3,

I1946.

1

Leonard

Bloom, "Familial Adjustments

of

Japanese-Americans

o

Relocation: First

Phase,"

American

Sociological

Review

8

(October,

I943),

55I-560.

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