The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
Short overview
Set in 1930s, The Four Winds is about a small Texas panhandle family who moves west during the Great Depression. Filled with hope they search for a better life in California, attempting to find their voice and stand up for what they believe in.
The book begins with Elsa, a young girl who is unloved by her biological family. She falls quickly for a boy, Rafe, and ends up marrying him and having two children, Loreda and Anthony. After her husband’s farm falls on intense hardship due to drought and poor health conditions, Elsa very reluctantly picks up her family and moves to California to pick cotton, full of hope to start a better life there.
What I liked
This story is ultimately about love. Love for your land and tending to something greater than yourself during your lifetime. Love for others, and the family you grow into over the years. Love for standing up for what you believe in, and the struggle that comes with that passion.
On the other hand, this story also about the pain that comes when love is not reciprocated. When the love you give your land or your biological family isn’t providing the basic needs your human heart desires in return. I enjoyed reading about the various relationships Elsa had throughout her life, and her feelings in each of those relationships. For example, Kristin Hannah uniquely describes Elsa’s relationships with her biological family, married-into family, her daughter, and the friends she made along the way. I believe those people really shaped Elsa’s character, helping her develop into a stronger women at the turn of each page.
My Reflection
The ‘what’
Differing views from you family, yet you love the same thing.
Elsa and Loreda both had big dreams for their family’s future. However, the way they would go about achieving those dreams differed greatly. Throughout the entire story, Elsa was very protective of her daughter, she wanted her to keep quiet and get a solid education, she wanted Loreda to be a polite young woman who didn’t speak up. She ultimately wanted her daughter to have a successful life, better than her own.
However, Loreda did not want keep quiet but to fight hard for her future. Loreda would skip school because they were teaching how to put on makeup, she checked out historical books from the library, or she would run away to join the communist meetings at night. Despite they both wanted to reach a prosperous future, they had differing views on how to get there. They shared the love of the same things.
I see this same idea in my family dynamics too. Each person in my family has the goal to have a successful farm, yet we have differing views on how to make that happen. But in the end, we make it work and life has it’s way of working out. The main thing that Elsa and Loreda have in common with me and my family, is love. We all share the love for a better future.
The emotional struggle of working hard, but not seeing a benefit.
In the first part of the book Kristin Hannah paints a beautiful and truthful image of what life on the farm was like then, and (scarily) many things are still very true today. One unique attribute of owning, working, and making a living off a farm, is that you cannot control as many things as you’d like to. And in turn, you can be directly affected by it. Such as Mother Nature, soil, rain, sun, snow, markets, cost of equipment, etc.
So when a farmer put so much hard work, money, time, and effort into taking care of the land, trying to make a profit and provide commodities for the world, and a random factor that is out of your control comes in and destroys it… you’re devastated. I don’t even know if devastated is the right word, it’s deeper than devastated. It’s the deepest feelings of defeat, loss, worry, and being scared. Let’s be real, this is one of the many reasons why the suicide is prevalent among farmers.
So naturally, as farmers do many pick themselves up by their boots (ha) get creative. Looking for another option or way to be successful. In the case of Elsa and her family, they rationed, reduced, sold items, etc. to survive. Of course, this is the dust bowl and great depression so this lasted for a good 10 years. That is a very long time to loose hope for everything.
So after years of lost hope, Elsa reluctantly moved away from her farm in Texas, to seek a new life in California. Even in California they run into struggle. Doing their best to work through tribulations, weather, poor pay, little food, worn clothing, and difficult bosses to work for.
In 2021, we have had a similar struggle. In eastern Washington region, where my family farms, we haven’t seen much rain at all in the 2020-2021 year (this is also the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has added a whole other level to the mix of living in this century). But the little rain has made a very negative impact on crops, timber, and livestock production across the Northwest. Making me feel like I understood, even more so, what the characters in this book were experiencing.
I really connected with the part of the book when Elsa decided to leave the farm. When I started this story, I was still living in Texas. Away from the family’s farm and the place I truly love. I felt the passion and worry Elsa had about leaving her family, the land she knew, and the things she loved most. Kristin Hannah did a wonderful job painting that picture of struggle for the readers.
The ‘so what’
Follow your heart.
Even if you do feel the need to leave home or family, you can always come back. Even if home isn’t a physical place (like land or a house). You need to do what is right for you (and your family). Whatever serves you and the greater good. Life ebbs and flows, so accepting that change is constant is a key to living a good life. You just have to trust in the process and believe in what your heart tells you to do.
Stand up for what you believe in.
This is a struggle for me sometimes too. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned how to do this better. Keyword: boundaries. Boundaries are very important when you want to stick to something you believe in. However, you can have boundaries, but if you don’t voice them or make them evident in your actions, what good is a boundary? At that point you aren’t even standing up, you’ve got a boundary line that is letting things get past you.
Despite hard times, you can make it through.
With hope and faith, you can make it through anything. Keeping your eye on something bigger and greater than yourself is key. Reminding yourself of your greater goal makes the bumps in the road seem like minor inconveniences. You learn how to navigate them and make decisions more clearly when you invest yourself in your faith to reach your goal and hope that you can make it.