Old Friends and New
[2] The stories from Old Friends and New are clear examples of the local color movement, with descriptions of the peaceful, rural settings.
She takes down the whale tooth that Carrick had given her, which she had displayed in her bedroom since he left on his voyage, and her age begins to show.
“An object may appear to be present before his eyes which has no existence whatever there.”[6] Upon their next meeting, Whiston tells Helen that he believes in ghosts, and that, in fact, Henry Dunster – his cousin who died in the war – constantly follows him around.
Her nephew, Joseph, requests some cream for his tea, so Miss Spring crosses the street to her neighbor’s house to accommodate him.
Miss Spring is concerned that her guests will be worried about her absence, but feels extremely comfortable with these two welcoming women.
Meanwhile, Miss Spring’s guests are panicking, unable to find her anywhere around, and already pointing to death as the likely cause of absence due to her age.
Spring is pleased to be staying in her home, instead of moving elsewhere, and is excited to welcome such lovely guests as West and Ashton.
She assures her that Miss Margaret Tennant, one of Mary's close friends, will visit them soon and will take great care of Elly.
When Tennant visits, she tells Elly and Mary the story of the first time Kitty, her sister, and Mr. Bruce met.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Marley, an elderly candy saleswoman moves her stand from Jefferson Street to Garden Place – right outside Miss Sydney’s house – where there is less wind and more business.
Miss Sydney is annoyed by the excessive noise from both the new street, in general, as well as Mrs. Marley’s candy cart right outside her window, however she comes to be very interested in the people.
“She was glad, now that the street was cut, that someone had more pleasure, if she had not.”[8] Miss Sydney immediately becomes more kind and charitable, stopping by the cart to buy some molasses candy.
John is extremely shocked, as Sydney proceeded to give this candy to some children on the street, an act that she would have never done before Grant Place was built.
“I wonder if anyone has not often been struck…by the sadness and hopelessness which seems to overshadow many of the people who live on the lonely farms in the outskirts of small New-England villages.”[10] She pities the solitude of such a rural life, for it seems that everyone is so unhappy out in the country.
Miss Horatia Dane – A lonely, elderly widow in Longfield, she stays much to herself, clearly affected by the loss of her lover decades ago.
Joe Carrick – Miss Horatia Dane’s long-lost lover, he was apparently lost at sea on a voyage as a young man.
A college graduate and a military veteran, he lives in the same area in which he grew up, maintaining contact with the same childhood friends.
A very welcoming woman, she goes out of her way to please her guests, but gets into trouble when she accidentally hitches a ride on a train, and ends up taking hours to return home.
Miss Margaret Tennant – One of aunt Mary's close friends, she narrates the story of when Kitty and Mr. Bruce met.
Mrs. Marley – An old, frail woman who takes care of her sister Polly, she earns money by selling molasses candy from a street cart.
She moves her cart to Grant Place when the weather becomes too cold and windy, and she is one of the main benefactors of Miss Sydney’s charitable behavior.
She moves abroad with her father, but returns to America after many decades to learn that Lady Ferry has, in fact, died.
Narrator – A young girl who spends her summers by the sea, she meets just one boy her age, Georgie, and has felt out of place ever since she left her childhood home.
“I began to feel already the pleasure of being in a real home.”[12] In some of the short stories, the characters make such small adjustments to their lives to realize that they are already happy and are surrounded by people that can quell their loneliness.
Old Friends and New demonstrates the importance of religion to New England society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Religious symbols and practices such as bibles and attending church are often found in those places that characters can call home, and the absence of loneliness comes, in part, to a rediscovering (or discovering) of religion.
“They are so manifestly the results of actual observation that they almost impress us as personal confidences, and make us ashamed of being caught napping.”[14] The light nature of these short stories is only compelling because of Jewett’s style, and would otherwise be viewed as descriptions of mundane occurrences.
The same review from Scribner's Monthly takes issue with Jewett's local color writing, citing its extreme simplicity and, perhaps, dullness.
“Their substance is so slight that the reader may be excused if he yields to the temptation to skip.”[14] While this critic disliked Jewett's naturalist style, many others found the simplicity charming.
Most of the stories in Old Friends and New take place in different areas of New England, likely inspired by the fact that Jewett was born and raised in Maine.
