Jenny quotes from Little House on the Prairie

Harriet

Ah, good morning, Laura and Jenny.

Good morning, Mrs. Oleson.

Jenny

How did that woman know my name?

That's Mrs. Oleson. She knows everything that goes on in Walnut Grove and what she doesn't know, she makes up!

Jenny

I killed him.

What?

Jenny

He was running that day, trying to keep up with me. Why didn't you tell me he was sick? Why?

Jenny, your father asked us not to.

Jenny

You should have. This never would have happened if you had told me!

Jenny, now you listen to me. Your father was very sick. Doc Baker told you that.

Jenny

I could have taken care of him. I could have helped him live, but instead I killed him.

Jenny, you didn't kill him.

Jenny

Leave me alone. Get out and leave me alone!

Jenny

[when she wakes up in bed] How did I get here?

Jeb found your note. He saved your life.

Jenny

Why didn't he let me die? It's what I wanted!

What you wanted? Well, maybe it's about time you started thinking of someone else besides yourself.

Jenny

I want to be with them. I love them.

If you love them like you say you do, then you would never do anything like this, to hurt them like this! Jenny, your parents loved you more than anything else in the world. They wanted you to have everything. Everything! Your own family, children, their grandchildren! But because of your self-pity, you'll deny them everything?

Jenny

That's not true!

Yes, it is! You talk about God and love? God put you on this Earth for a reason just like all of us! You're strong and healthy, and you should get down on your knees and thank the Lord for what you've got! But instead, you just throw it all away, and you nearly cost an innocent boy to lose his life.

Jenny

What?

Yes! Jeb Carter nearly drowned trying to save you! His father told me he couldn't swim a stroke, yet he jumped into that water, and he somehow got you out! Now, I don't want to hear anymore about what you want. You start thinking about what your parents would want for you if you love them like you say you do.

Jenny

[about Matthew] Well, Doctor? What's wrong with him?

I think Matthew's suffering from morphinism. It's a condition that affects normal behavior due to the extended use of morphine. I saw quite a bit of it after the war.

Well, how would he have gotten that way?

My guess is that McQueen has been using his elixir to keep the boy sedated.

I'm sorry, Doc, I don't see the connection.

Isaiah, that elixir that McQueen is peddling probably has a morphine base. I'd have to test it to be sure. Anyway, all he had to do was give the boy large doses of the elixir and he was able to control his moods.

You mean, that's why the boy was acting crazy?

Exactly. When he wants the boy to go wild, all he has to do is withhold the solution, just long enough for the boy's need to bring on the violence.

Jenny

How could anybody do that to a boy?

Oh, Jenny. That and worse may have been done to him. I examined Matthew's throat. At some point in his life, he swallowed some lye, and that's why he can't speak. I hope to God it wasn't done deliberately.

[about Matthew] It's him! It's the Wild Boy!

Jenny

But he's not wild!

Almanzo

I said keep away from him! There's no telling what he's gonna do.

Jenny

Please! Won't you just listen to me? He's not wild, I tell you! He's a mute! [walks over to Matthew] It'll be all right, Matthew. They won't hurt you. His name's Matthew. He can't talk, but he can hear. He scratched his name in the dirt over there. The reason he acts this way is because Dr. McQueen keeps him locked up in that cage. You'd act wild, too!

I can't believe anybody would do something like this.

Almanzo

What I can't understand is how he got here. Jenny, how long have you known about this?

Jenny

Just today. Well, see, some of us sneaked into the tent to see him. We were just gonna take a quick peek and leave, honest. Nancy started teasing him and hitting him with a cane. Well, I stopped her. When I was putting the cane back, he reached down and touched my arm. He was scared, and he had this look on his face like.....well, now I know that all he wanted was for someone to help him.

These are my sign language books. They can teach you to talk with your hands.

They can?

It's the way deaf people talk.

Matthew can hear just fine.

But he can't talk, can he?

That's right, he can't. Trying to understand that boy is about as easy as scratching your ear with your elbow!

Well, I can change that. I can teach Matthew how to talk with his hands, and I can teach you and Jenny how to understand him.

Jenny

Wouldn't that be wonderful?

You think you can? I'm kind of a bonehead.

[laughs] I know I can.

[to Jenny] So, you went back to school and they acted different to you. Is that it?

Jenny

Yes.

And you weren't different? You weren't any different from the way you were before? Of course you were.

Jenny

But they made me feel uncomfortable.

That's because they were uncomfortable. They didn't know what to say to you. Land sakes, you've gotta give people a chance.

Jenny

Then Nancy said things--

Nancy said mean things to you. Didn't she always? Didn't she?

Jenny

Well, yes, but--

But nothing. She shouldn't be mean to you now because of what happened to you? That's nonsense. You're upset at the other children because they acted differently. You were upset at Nancy because she acted the way she always does.

[to Jenny] What are you gonna do now? Go home and feel sorry for yourself? That'll do you a lot of good.

Jenny

You don't understand. You pretended to be my friend, but you don't care. You don't care at all!

That's it! That's it! Get angry! It's good for you! I do it lots of times, because I'm a doctor and I'm going blind. And that makes me damn angry because I'm still a good doctor and I can't help people anymore! [voice softens] I do understand, and I do care. If I didn't care, I wouldn't have told you to go back to school. I didn't want you to, you know. I wanted you to spend your days here with me. I couldn't wait for you to come every morning. It made me feel that I was still able to help someone, that I was useful. And I wasn't quite so frightened with the coming doctors, because you were around. Jenny, you're my last patient, and you're getting better. You're getting better all the time and you can still keep getting better as long as you fight. You got angry today. Use it! Fight this thing. Show Nancy. Show them all!

Jenny

You don't have to drive me to school tomorrow. I'm gonna walk.

That's an awfully long way. Are you sure?

Jenny

I'll make it. Believe me, I'll make it.

[voiceover] And make it she did. Within a few months, Jenny was running to school, and by the end of the year, it was as though the accident had never happened. Jenny was Marvin's last patient and he was proud.

All right, Baby Wilder. Time to greet the morning! [reaches into the baby's crib and stops cold) Baby? [long pause, backs away] Manly? MANLY!

Almanzo

Beth, what is it?

There's something wrong. There's something wrong with the baby! Oh, God!

Jenny

[walks in as Laura backs away in shock) Aunt Laura, what's wrong? Aunt Laura?

Almanzo

[tries to wake the baby up, long silence] Dear God. He's dead. Our baby's dead.