Structure

The short story “Spoil the Child” by Howard Fast is structured following a traditional plot line, beginning with an exposition and continuing with the rising action, the climax, the falling action and the resolution. The story is also build using tension points, backstory and foreshadowing elements.

The narrative follows a young boy who ends up assuming the role of the head of the family, following his father’s death.  

Title

The title of the story indicates that the narrative is going to be about parents and children and ways of bringing up children, either by spoiling or disciplining them. In fact, the title is an allusion to a Biblical teaching which recommends disciplining one’s child. The idea has been developed into a proverb by Samuel Butler, a

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Beginning

The short story begins in media res, in the middle of events, with a child narrator introducing readers to the context and some of the characters: “THE first morning pa was gone, I tried to ride one of the mules. I didn't think that would hurt, because the mules were unharnessed anyway. But Maude told ma, and ma licked me. Ma was in the wagon...”

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Middle

The middle of the short story develops the rising action using several tension points. The first tension point is the fact that the family is running out of water: “I went to the keg, drew some water, and set it up to boil. I could tell by the sound that there wasn't a lot of water left in the keg.”

The tension increases as the mother appears to be feeling sicker and sicker and the father is running late from the hunting trip. In the meantime, the author also inserts short backstories on the father and the mother, which indicate that the man had an adventurous spirit, and saw traveling as a path to a better life.

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Ending

The falling action of the short story depicts David taking control of the situation and deciding to drive the wagon in search of water during the night: “They had to keep moving. We had to find water. At night, under the moon, the prairie was black and silver at the same time.”

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