Mary Ingalls: blind?

Nothing says Missouri like cashew chicken.

But there is also the matter of a certain pioneering family.

Apologies if you, devoted readers, have seen this before. If you noted it on Wikipedia I’m impressed: I was banned for 2 weeks for publishing my research.

It’s easy enough to work around these things.

Enjoy.

Laura Ingalls Wilder captured the hearts of impressionable young readers with her stories of a family’s survival on the rugged plains of 1870s North America. She portrayed her sister, Mary Ingalls, as a mature older sister who tragically lost her sight to scarlet fever in 1879.

However, there is groundbreaking evidence that Mary Ingalls was in fact not blind.

There are several academic theories to account for this revelation.

The most popular is the so-called “Impostor Theory,” which states that Mary faked her blindness in order to gain admission to the College of the Blind in Vinton, Iowa. Life as a farmer’s wife required a sense of toughness that Mary did not possess. Upon seeing an ad in the Mercantile, Mary sought admission to the College. Her cleverness earned her a scholarship – and a degree.

Another theory is “Psychosomatic.” As the children aged, Jack, the beloved family bulldog, died of natural causes. Mary, an animal lover, took the loss particularly hard. She struggled to accept his death, and became stuck in the denial stage of grief. Thus, Laura depicted her as “blind” because Mary could not “see” the truth of Jack’s passing.

The “Third Eye Theory” indicates that Laura, while possessing normal intelligence, lacked the creative faculties to document her life. Indeed, her daughter, Rose helped write the later Little House books as “fictionalized autobiography.” Rose described her aunt as blind to gain sympathy for this character, who was less likable in early books due to her pious nature.

Finally, there is the “Righteousness Theory.” Mary was known for her religious devotion. Being of a particular moral aptitude, she took literally the verse: “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away” (Mt. 5:29). Although concerned that blindness might cast her in an unfair light in print, she did not want to appear self-righteous and called it “the cross I must bear.”