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Pageant Wagon (short story)
Encyclopedia
"Pageant Wagon" is a short story by Orson Scott Card
. It’s first and only appearance is in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe
(1989).
America range rider Deaver Teague is trying to get to the town of Moab
because his horse died. On the way he is picked up by the Aal family’s pageant
wagon. When they arrive in the town of Hatchville Deaver decides to help the Aal’s set up for the show because he likes them, he wants to see the show and because they have a beautiful daughter named Katie. Over the course of the day Deaver learns that the family has a lot of problems. The most serious of them is that the middle son Ollie wants desperately to get away from the pageant because his father won’t let him act but makes him run the lights and sound board instead. When Ollie takes off with a local girl in an effort the get the family into trouble Deaver talks the sheriff out of arresting anyone and then offers to take over the Ollie’s job so that he can either leave the show or start acting.
" by Orson Scott Card, Deaver Teague was found by a group of traveling Mormon
s after his parents were killed. Since the boy had no parents the group decided to take him along with them to Utah. At the time he was unable to talk and they didn’t know his name so he was named after two of the men in the group; Jamie Teague and Brother Deaver. In the story "Salvage
" Deaver is a young man who goes diving in a Mormon temple to try and find hidden gold. In Card's short story "The Fringe
" the main character, Mr. Carpenter is rescued from drowning at the last minute by a group of traveling actors calling itself the "Sweetwater Miracle Pageant".
/Mormon
influence is present in this story.
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
. It’s first and only appearance is in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe
The Folk of the Fringe
The Folk of the Fringe is a collection of post-apocalyptic stories by American writer Orson Scott Card. These stories are set sometime in the near future, when World War III has left America in ruins. The stories are about how a few groups of Mormons struggle to survive...
(1989).
Plot summary
In a post-apocalypticApocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
America range rider Deaver Teague is trying to get to the town of Moab
Moab, Utah
Moab is a city in Grand County, in eastern Utah, in the western United States. The population was 4,779 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat and largest city in Grand County. Moab hosts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors to the nearby Arches and Canyonlands National Parks...
because his horse died. On the way he is picked up by the Aal family’s pageant
Latter-day Saint pageant
This list of pageants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints delineates those annual outdoor theatrical performance produced by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It is reminiscent of early Christian Pageants which reenacted the world history in processional...
wagon. When they arrive in the town of Hatchville Deaver decides to help the Aal’s set up for the show because he likes them, he wants to see the show and because they have a beautiful daughter named Katie. Over the course of the day Deaver learns that the family has a lot of problems. The most serious of them is that the middle son Ollie wants desperately to get away from the pageant because his father won’t let him act but makes him run the lights and sound board instead. When Ollie takes off with a local girl in an effort the get the family into trouble Deaver talks the sheriff out of arresting anyone and then offers to take over the Ollie’s job so that he can either leave the show or start acting.
Connection to the other stories
In the story "WestWest (short story)
"West" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe. Card originally published a shorter version of this story in the short story collection Free Lancers: Alien Stars IV .-Plot summary:...
" by Orson Scott Card, Deaver Teague was found by a group of traveling Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
s after his parents were killed. Since the boy had no parents the group decided to take him along with them to Utah. At the time he was unable to talk and they didn’t know his name so he was named after two of the men in the group; Jamie Teague and Brother Deaver. In the story "Salvage
Salvage (short story)
"Salvage" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe. Card originally published this story in the February 1986 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine...
" Deaver is a young man who goes diving in a Mormon temple to try and find hidden gold. In Card's short story "The Fringe
The Fringe (short story)
"The Fringe" is a short story by Orson Scott Card. It appears in his short story collection The Folk of the Fringe and in Future on Ice a short story collection edited by card...
" the main character, Mr. Carpenter is rescued from drowning at the last minute by a group of traveling actors calling itself the "Sweetwater Miracle Pageant".
Influences
As with many of Card's other literature, a ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
/Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
influence is present in this story.
Sweetwater Miracle Pageant people
- Marshall "Marsh" Aal - father
- Scarlett Aal - mother
- Peter O'Toole "Tooilie" Aal - son
- Katie Hepburn Aal - daughter
- Laurence Olivier "Ollie" Aal - son
- Janie Aal - daughter
- Dusty Aal - son
- Parley Aal - grandfather
- Donna Aal - grandmother
Other characters
- Royal "Roy" Aal - from Royal's Riders
- town's people - unnamed
- Meech - range rider dispatcher
- secretary - in the mayor's office - unnamed
- Mayor of Hatchville - also the bishop - unnamed
- Nance Pulley
- Judge Pulley - Nance's father
- sheriff - unnamed
See also
- List of works by Orson Scott Card
- Orson Scott CardOrson Scott CardOrson Scott Card is an American author, critic, public speaker, essayist, columnist, and political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction. His novel Ender's Game and its sequel Speaker for the Dead both won Hugo and Nebula Awards, making Card the...
- LDS fictionLDS fictionLDS fiction is an American niche market of fiction novels featuring themes related to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...