Summary Of Abe Buys A Barrel By Mary Nygaard Peterson

“Abe Buys a Barrel” by Mary Nygaard Peterson tells the story of young Abraham Lincoln who owns a general store located in New Salem Illinois, 1833. Throughout the story, Lincoln has many interactions with customers, which ultimately have a big impact on him. The interactions between Abe and his customers reveal that he is friendly, impulsive, and generous. He is friendly when telling his customers that he enjoys their company, Impulsive when he decides to buy a barrel, and generous and he always customers to make themselves feel at home. Throughout the story, Abe is very friendly toward his customers. He often greets them with warm and kind gestures to make sure they know he cares for them. This is demonstrated on page 15 when Abe says, "There is no one I'd rather open it for. What can I do for you this morning?" While Abe didn't intend to open the shop that day, he does so to assist Mrs. Hornbuckle, one of his regular clients, which is shown in this quote. This comment shows that Abe is friendly because he invited her into his shop even though he wasn't planning to open it up, showing that he cares for her.

He often does things without thinking about the consequences and how they might affect him in the future. This is shown on page 18 when Abe states, “This’ill come in real handy one of these days..Here's four bits. I know it's not much, but it's all I can pay.” In this quote, Abe is given the chance to buy a barrel from one of his customers. Abe makes the impulsive decision to purchase the barrel despite his lack of money. This comment demonstrates Abe's tendency toward impulsivity when he decides to buy something he doesn't really need just because he feels compelled to do