The Great Brain
Encyclopedia
The Great Brain is a series of children's books by American
author John Dennis Fitzgerald
(1906–1988). Set in the fictitious small town of Adenville, Utah
, between 1896 and 1898, the stories are loosely based on Fitzgerald's childhood experiences. Although John D. Fitzgerald was born in Price, Utah
, several references in the stories suggest Adenville is located in Utah's "Dixie," in the southwestern corner of the state, near St. George
. The town was indeed a village located west of Cedar City
about which little is known. The town is mentioned by Dr. Stephen L. Carr in his book, The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns, published 2009 by Western Epics.
Chronicled by the first-person voice of John Dennis Fitzgerald, the stories mainly center on the escapades of John's mischievous older brother, Tom Dennis Fitzgerald, a.k.a. "The Great Brain." The Great Brain was made into a movie released in 1978
, with the main character played by Jimmy Osmond
.
Mercer Mayer
originally illustrated the books except for 1995's The Great Brain Is Back (which was illustrated by Diane deGroat). Mr. Mayer did the original cover illustrations for the first seven books as well, but Carl Cassler re-did the cover illustrations for some of the re-prints of the first seven books.
All the Fitzgerald men have the middle name of Dennis, a reminder of the "Fitzgerald Curse," put upon the family because an ancestor named Dennis helped the British during the Revolutionary War. His father decreed that all male Fitzgeralds should have Dennis as their middle name to remind them of his son's loyalty to the Crown.
In reality, the author had an older sister, Belle Fitzgerald Empey. In addition, his brother "Sweyn" doesn't have that name; the real John's two elder brothers were named William and Tom, and he had two younger brothers, Gerald and Charles.
, 500 or so Protestants, and only about 100 Catholics
. All the non-Mormons or "Gentiles" attend a generalized community church, and the Fitzgeralds have to make do with the services of itinerant priests and of the local preacher, Reverend Holcomb, who preaches "strictly from the Bible" so he does not show favoritism to either Protestants or Catholics.
The Jewish population is almost nonexistent, consisting solely of an aging itinerant Jewish peddler named Abie who sets up a shop in Adenville with tragic results, as chronicled in the first book in the series, The Great Brain. Abie dies of starvation because his small shop cannot compete with the ZCMI store. Papa explains to the townspeople that it was the fact that Abie was a Jew that no one recognized or helped him with his situation. With Abie's death, it can be inferred that the town no longer has any Jewish people living in it. It is also not known if the Basil Kokovinis and his family are Greek Orthodox
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author John Dennis Fitzgerald
John D. Fitzgerald
John Dennis Fitzgerald was an American author.Fitzgerald was born in Price, Utah, the son of an Irish Catholic father and a Scandinavian Mormon mother...
(1906–1988). Set in the fictitious small town of Adenville, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, between 1896 and 1898, the stories are loosely based on Fitzgerald's childhood experiences. Although John D. Fitzgerald was born in Price, Utah
Price, Utah
Price is a city in Carbon County, Utah, United States. The city is home to the USU-College of Eastern Utah, as well as the large USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum affiliated with the college. Price is located within short distances from both Nine Mile Canyon and the Manti-La Sal National Forest...
, several references in the stories suggest Adenville is located in Utah's "Dixie," in the southwestern corner of the state, near St. George
St. George, Utah
St. George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah, and the county seat of Washington County, Utah. It is the principal city of and is included in the St. George, Utah, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is 119 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 303 miles ...
. The town was indeed a village located west of Cedar City
Cedar City, Utah
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,527 people, 6,486 households, and 4,682 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,021.8 people per square mile . There were 7,109 housing units at an average density of 353.9 per square mile...
about which little is known. The town is mentioned by Dr. Stephen L. Carr in his book, The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns, published 2009 by Western Epics.
Chronicled by the first-person voice of John Dennis Fitzgerald, the stories mainly center on the escapades of John's mischievous older brother, Tom Dennis Fitzgerald, a.k.a. "The Great Brain." The Great Brain was made into a movie released in 1978
The Great Brain (film)
- Cast :*Jimmy Osmond as Tom Fitzgerald*Pat Delaney*Fran Ryan*Cliff Osmond*Arthur Roberts*Lynn Benisch*Len Birman*James Jarnigan*John Fredric Hart...
, with the main character played by Jimmy Osmond
Jimmy Osmond
James Arthur "Jimmy" Osmond is an American singer, actor, and businessman.-Biography:Jimmy Osmond is the youngest of his siblings and an occasional member of their musical group, The Osmonds. He is the ninth and last child of George and Olive Osmond, and his siblings are Virl, Tom, Alan, Wayne,...
.
Mercer Mayer
Mercer Mayer
Mercer Mayer is an American children's book writer and illustrator. He has published over 300 books using a wide range of illustrative styles...
originally illustrated the books except for 1995's The Great Brain Is Back (which was illustrated by Diane deGroat). Mr. Mayer did the original cover illustrations for the first seven books as well, but Carl Cassler re-did the cover illustrations for some of the re-prints of the first seven books.
Publication history
The Publisher's Note in The Great Brain Is Back, published after the death of the author, recounts the story of the series' original publication. Fitzgerald had published the best-selling Papa Married a Mormon and its sequel, Mama's Boarding House in 1955 and 1958 respectively. Those books were set in Adenville, Utah at the end of the 19th century. A third book was requested by the editor, E.L. Doctorow but he changed jobs before the manuscript was completed. Fitzgerald submitted the new novel, which focused on the children of Adenville, to Doctorow at The Dial Press but by then family stories were out of favor with adult readers. The new editor for children's book offered to publish the novel if it were cut in half and eliminating some passages aimed at adults. The result was The Great Brain.Series titles
Titles in order of chronological continuity include:- The Great Brain (1967)
- More Adventures of the Great Brain (1969)
- Me and My Little Brain (1971)
- The Great Brain At The Academy (1972)
- The Great Brain Reforms (1973)
- The Return of the Great Brain (1974)
- The Great Brain Does It Again (1976)
- The Great Brain Is Back (Published in 1995 from loose notes after the author's death) s
Fitzgerald family
The Fitzgerald family members include:- John Dennis Fitzgerald (J.D.) - the narrator of the series, and youngest of the three brothers before the adoption of Frankie Pennyworth.
- Tom Dennis Fitzgerald (T.D.) - the mischievous middle brother and swindler extraordinaire. His nickname is "The Great Brain", and his escapades form the basis for the series. Throughout the series, Tom demonstrates that he possesses great intelligence and a money-loving heart, but at times, he also demonstrates great humanity and generosity.
- Sweyn Dennis Fitzgerald (S.D.) - the eldest brother; eventually departs for PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to live with relatives so that he can attend high school. - Frankie Pennyworth - a boy who is adopted by the Fitzgerald family after the loss of his own family in a landslide. When he first arrives, he has a mental blockMental blockA mental block is either a repression of painful thoughts, or an inability to continue a train of thought, like in the case of writer's block. A similar phenomenon occurs when one cannot solve a problem in mathematics which one would normally consider simple. In the case of writer's block, many...
stemming from this trauma. John reflects that his name should be "Frankenstein Dollar worth", because, he says, Frankie is "a monster and a dollar's worth of trouble". - Thomas Dennis Fitzgerald ("Papa" or "Fitz") - patriarch of the family. Owner, editor, and publisher of the town paper, the "Adenville Weekly Advocate". He is an Irish CatholicIrish CatholicIrish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
originally from the Eastern United States who headed west to seek his fortune as a newspaper writer and publisher. He is one of Adenville's leading citizens, and the only one with a college education. - Tena ("Mama") Fitzgerald - matriarch of the family and homemaker, of DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
-ScandinavianScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
ancestry. - Aunt Bertha - not actually the brothers' aunt but family nonetheless
- Uncle Mark - the town marshal
- Aunt Cathie - Mark's wife, who appears only briefly when she and Mark consider adopting Frankie
All the Fitzgerald men have the middle name of Dennis, a reminder of the "Fitzgerald Curse," put upon the family because an ancestor named Dennis helped the British during the Revolutionary War. His father decreed that all male Fitzgeralds should have Dennis as their middle name to remind them of his son's loyalty to the Crown.
In reality, the author had an older sister, Belle Fitzgerald Empey. In addition, his brother "Sweyn" doesn't have that name; the real John's two elder brothers were named William and Tom, and he had two younger brothers, Gerald and Charles.
- Andy Anderson, a boy who loses his right leg to infection after receiving a cut from falling from a rope swing in an abandoned barn; he receives assistance from Tom ... for a price.
- Parley Benson, son of a bounty hunter and the envy of most of the other boys. He possesses his own coonskin cap, a Bowie knifeBowie knifeA Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife first popularized by Colonel James "Jim" Bowie in the early 19th Century. Since the first incarnation was created by James Black, the Bowie knife has come to incorporate several recognizable and characteristic design features, although its...
, and his own repeating air rifle. Tom wins Parley's air rifle in a bet about whether Tom can magnetize wood. After reading about boomerangsBoomerangA boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
in an encyclopedia and seeing an illustration of one in a dictionary, Tom fashions a boomerang from a stick, and after throwing it, holds up a magnet to make it appear the magnet is bringing it back. Losing his air rifle earns Parley the "worst whipping of his life" from his father. - Dotty Blake, also known as "Britches Dottie," a "tomboy" whom Tom teaches to read and write, and who is given dresses and taught to act like a conventional girl by Tom's mother. Dottie beats up Sammy Leeds when he teases her.
- Danny Forester, son of the town's barber. Danny's left eye always seems half-shut, except when he gets excited.
- Jimmy Gruber, a diabetic boy who dies in childhood, after his father steals Frankie's rocking horse (named 'Bullet') as a present before Jimmy dies.
- Eddie Huddle, Frankie's best friend and son of the town blacksmith
- Frank and Allan Jensen, who in the first book of the series disappear into Skeleton Cave, along with their dog Lady. Tom rescues them, using his 'great brain'.
- Howard Kay, one of John's best friends, who has "a round face like a pumpkin". In the first book, John, wanting to get the mumps before Tom and Sweyn and expose them, sneaks into Howard's bedroom when he is quarantined with mumps and begs him to breathe on him, which Howard eventually does reluctantly. Later, Howard is almost killed when a flood strikes while he is river rafting on Tom's "Explorer", after being pressured by Tom to ride it (and thus pay the five-cent fee) even though the river had turned muddy, which was a sign of a flood.
- Basil Kokovinis, a GreekGreeksThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
boy who recently immigrated to America. Upon his arrival in Adenville he has difficulty assimilating, until Tom takes the initiative to show Basil the ropes of being a bona fide American kid. - Sammy Leeds, who is something of a bully. His father is extremely bigoted and incites him to harass Basil, a newly arrived Greek immigrant.
- Jimmy Peterson, another of John's best friends, whose mother owns the local boarding house and buys clothes that are too big for him because he doesn't have any brothers who could use the clothes as hand-me-downs. He is almost killed along with Howard Kay on Tom's raft.
- Polly Reagan, who becomes Tom's girlfriend when he turns 13. She and Tom are co-winners of the town spelling beeSpelling beeA spelling bee is a competition where contestants, usually children, are asked to spell English words. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States....
. - Seth Smith, a local Mormon boy about Tom's age. Seth's father owns the empty lot on which the children frequently play baseball and scrub football
- Herbie Sties, a fat poet whom Tom sets out to reform.
- Marie Vinson, daughter of leading citizen, Mrs. Vinson. Sweyn is sweet on Marie, much to John and Tom's chagrin. John refers to her as "that stuck-up Marie Vinson".
Religious demographics
Catholicism is central to the family's life and identity, a recurring theme in a town where Catholics are distinctly in the minority. The breakdown is said to be 2,000 MormonsMormon
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...
, 500 or so Protestants, and only about 100 Catholics
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
. All the non-Mormons or "Gentiles" attend a generalized community church, and the Fitzgeralds have to make do with the services of itinerant priests and of the local preacher, Reverend Holcomb, who preaches "strictly from the Bible" so he does not show favoritism to either Protestants or Catholics.
The Jewish population is almost nonexistent, consisting solely of an aging itinerant Jewish peddler named Abie who sets up a shop in Adenville with tragic results, as chronicled in the first book in the series, The Great Brain. Abie dies of starvation because his small shop cannot compete with the ZCMI store. Papa explains to the townspeople that it was the fact that Abie was a Jew that no one recognized or helped him with his situation. With Abie's death, it can be inferred that the town no longer has any Jewish people living in it. It is also not known if the Basil Kokovinis and his family are Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
.
Education
- Papa, who had migrated from the northeastern United States, is the only person in town with a college education.
- Adenville contains a one room schoolhouse with a single teacher who teaches the first through sixth grades.
- Papa sends Tom and Sweyn to a Catholic boarding academy in Salt Lake City that serves ten boys in the seventh grade and ten boys in the eighth grade. Although candy is forbidden there, Tom devises a way to sneak out every Friday evening and buy candy from a local shop, and resells it at double the retail price at his rogue Academy candy store.
- Later, a new academy is built in Adenville for seventh and eighth grade, so that other children may get a higher education. Tom attends eighth grade there.
- In the series Sweyn attends high school in Boylestown, Pennsylvania.
Historical context
Fitzgerald's books describe many issues regarding society and life in the context of the late 19th century, between 1896 and 1898 in the southwestern United States. Among the topics covered are the following:- The small-town culture of long ago
- Diabetes as a fatal disease (before insulinInsulinInsulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
) - The banking system in the days before the Federal Reserve,
- RacismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, intolerance, and indifference.- Although blacks do not appear, the issue of nativismNativism (politics)Nativism favors the interests of certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of newcomers or immigrants. It may also include the re-establishment or perpetuation of such individuals or their culture....
arises when some of the kids torment the son of a Greek immigrant. - Native AmericansNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and their lives on reservations - The second-class status of Jews
- Although blacks do not appear, the issue of nativism
- MormonismMormonismMormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
and CatholicismCatholicismCatholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole.... - Modes of transportation, such as walking, riding horses, and (for longer journeys) trains.
- Sewage. Outhouses (referred to as "backhouses" in Utah at that time, due to the term "outhouse" being used in that region to refer to a storage shed, workshed, or other small out-building behind the main house) are not only the norm, they are a mark of social status. When Papa orders a flush toiletFlush toiletA flush toilet is a toilet that disposes of human waste by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location. Flushing mechanisms are found more often on western toilets , but many squat toilets also are made for automated flushing...
(called a "water closet") from Sears Roebuck and has a cesspool built, the whole town becomes fascinated. Tom charges a penny per person to see it flushed. - Child discipline. Most families gave their children "whippings." In The Great Brain Reforms, Parley Benson says that his pa "horsewhipped" him for letting Tom cheat him out of his repeating air rifle. The better-educated, more progressive Fitzgeralds are a notable exception with their use of the silent treatment. This means that Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald will not talk to or acknowledge the boy or boys being punished for a day, a week, or longer depending on the circumstances. J.D. frequently describes the silent treatment as worse than a whipping because of the emotional impact of being ignored by his parents, and at times says that he wishes his parents would just give them a whipping and get it over with.
- Non-conformity. Tom and John's fear that they will be seen as cowards, sissies, or welchers by the other boys of the town is a driving factor in more than a few of the stories.
- Leisure time amusements and activities in the days before radio and television.
- CrimeCrimeCrime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
. This includes episodes such as the outlaw Cal Roberts escaping from prison and holding Frankie hostage, a bank robbery, a cattle buyer being robbed and murdered on a train, and the citizens of Adenville being defrauded by con men claiming to represent "Alkali Products, Inc." Tom becomes involved in solving these crimes because of the Fitzgerald boys' relationship with their Uncle Mark, the town marshal. In The Great Brain is Back, Tom also helps prove the innocence of three Native Americans framed for theft, breaks up a dogfighting ring, and escapes kidnappers. - There is an anachronism in the series about Cracker JackCracker JackCracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
. In The Return of the Great Brain, Tom concocts a swindle using a "wheel of fortune," like a rouletteRouletteRoulette is a casino game named after a French diminutive for little wheel. In the game, players may choose to place bets on either a single number or a range of numbers, the colors red or black, or whether the number is odd or even....
wheel, where players win prizes depending on the number on which the wheel stops spinning. Half of the numbers win two boxes of Cracker JackCracker JackCracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
, with, as Tom says, "the usual prize in each box." However, prizes did not appear in Cracker Jack until 1912; the Great Brain series is set in the late 19th century. - There are some chapters in the series involving the paranormalParanormalParanormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
, although the events can be explained naturally.- In The Great Brain, Tom involves his friends in a plan to frame the new schoolteacher for being a drunk, and makes them swear an oath not to tell on the skull of a purported dead Indian chief, calling upon the chief's ghost to "come back to earth and cut out the tongue of anybody who tells."
- In More Adventures of the Great Brain, the people of Adenville, including Papa and Uncle Mark, believe that a prehistoric animal is on the loose due to "monster tracks" leading from Skeleton Cave to the river and back. In reality, Tom has created those tracks to scare Parley Benson away from the cave and win a bet.
- Later in the same book, Tom, John, Sweyn, and several of their friends encounter a ghostGhostIn traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
in the abandoned mining town of Silverlode; the "ghost" is really the uncle of one of their friends dressed in a sheet, for the purpose of scaring them away from the very real physical dangers of that place. - In Me and My Little Brain, John scares Frankie with a story about a ghost that preys on little boys sleeping alone in response to Frankie's attempts to steal his bed.
- In The Great Brain at the Academy, Tom and his friend Jerry win a bet by making it appear that Jerry can read minds.
- In The Great Brain Does It Again, Tom has Herbie Sties, the "greedy gut", take a "sacred oath" on the Bible to "stop eating ice cream and candy and more than one dessert a day", declaring that "if I break my sacred vow, my soul will belong to the Devil and I'll burn in everlasting Hell". When Herbie still does not lose even one pound, Tom and John investigate and secretly observe him consuming a bag-load of candy. Rather than denounce him on the spot, Tom has John dress up in a devil costume and knock on Herbie's window as he is getting ready for bed. Herbie believes for five days that a devil really has come to claim his soul, although the trick is eventually revealed.