Others here have given good reviews of this episode involving Festus and his relatives.
I'm not sure exactly where Festus hails from - the Ozarks, or some other hill country, but were I from southern US, I'd be embarrassed at Gunsmoke's depiction. Only once can I remember someone suggesting Festus learn to read and it was Doc who made the suggestion. Festus indicated somehow that it would be a waste of time. No one ever told him that if six year olds could learn to read he could too. Then there was the episode "Aunt Thede" thinking incorrectly that the good book "Little Women" was THE GOOD BOOK, and used it to solemnize a marriage. Matt went along with that! Maybe he considered it like a civil ceremony, but there was no marriage license, or an open marriage. There was another episode in which a young boy was denied by his father from school because he needed the boy's two hands at the farm. The farmer felt he was successful without schooling, so why should his kid need to go to school. Maybe there was no Department of Agriculture producing newsletters and other useful documents, or the necessity to calculate gains, losses and profits with the need to do calculations. There was a discussion about requiring mandatory education.
I'm not sure exactly where Festus hails from - the Ozarks, or some other hill country, but were I from southern US, I'd be embarrassed at Gunsmoke's depiction. Only once can I remember someone suggesting Festus learn to read and it was Doc who made the suggestion. Festus indicated somehow that it would be a waste of time. No one ever told him that if six year olds could learn to read he could too. Then there was the episode "Aunt Thede" thinking incorrectly that the good book "Little Women" was THE GOOD BOOK, and used it to solemnize a marriage. Matt went along with that! Maybe he considered it like a civil ceremony, but there was no marriage license, or an open marriage. There was another episode in which a young boy was denied by his father from school because he needed the boy's two hands at the farm. The farmer felt he was successful without schooling, so why should his kid need to go to school. Maybe there was no Department of Agriculture producing newsletters and other useful documents, or the necessity to calculate gains, losses and profits with the need to do calculations. There was a discussion about requiring mandatory education.
