The Importance Of The Smith Family In Trouble By Gary D. Schmidt

In the book Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt the public people of a small 1978 New England town are curious to what is going on inside of Henry Smith’s family. The Smith family is a prestigious one, whose children are the pride of the school. Louisa is a brilliant, passionate girl, who is betraying her family. Franklin is a fast, strong, capable, and handsome son, who bullies others. Henry is another cunning, creative, and kind son, who isn’t good enough. The Smith family’s imperfections grow when Franklin gets hit by a pick-up truck, and Henry discovers the truth behind his family fortune. The public becomes curious as to what really happened, but Smith family’s privacy is more important than the public’s right to know the truth.

One example of

‘That I sat in my son’s hospital room for 6 hours, and he didn’t move once? That when Dr. Giles opened his eyelids and flashed a light into his eye, the pupils didn’t dilate enough to measure? That the sounds my son make… are like none that any boy should ever make? You want me to tell her that the bloody stump is still oozing?” (page 40) This proves that the “public's” right to know the truth, is much less important than Mrs. Smith’s privacy. If Mrs. Smith doesn’t want to share what is really going on, that is her choice, and it is more important than Sanborn’s mom’s need to know. If she thinks that she can spare Sanborn’s mom the trouble of worrying, then she can do so. In all, this shows that while the Smiths tell everyone that everything is ok, it really isn’t, but the family’s privacy is more important than people knowing the truth.

Another representation of the privacy being more important is shown when Henry finds out the truth about how his family made its fortune. Hiding from angry citizens, he makes his way into a museum of artifacts. While there, an artifact collector shows him a picture of a ship being burned outside of Henry’s house years ago. The picture includes a man who is one of Henry’s ancestors looking down at the ship. The artifact collector asks Henry;

“‘You know what cargo she carried?’ Henry thought of the chains and manacles. He thought of the swords and flintlocks. He put his hand up to his

Who’s being uncooperative?’”(pages 100 and 101) This shows that although the police have every right to investigate a case and interrogate Henry, they cannot do so without invading the family’s privacy. If the Smiths don't want to cooperate and do not feel like helping this case, this is their choice. The public’s right to know about the arson case is less important than the Smiths’ privacy. In all, the Smiths may be linked to the burning down of the building, but because of what they are going through, they do not have to help, and their privacy is most