(To those who don't get my title... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkV-of_eN2w)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Ceremony reminds me of "Colors of the Wind"
In last night's reading, there is an insane amount of nature imagery. When reading, I didn't feel like this was just Silko trying to beautify the writing. I instead feel like all the nature-details are through Tayo's eyes. He's the one who sees the snow and the grass and the deer and the mountains and the sky - their colors and smells and sounds. By following Tayo, all of our senses are truly tuned into nature. This is so representative of the Native American culture; unlike others, they notice, admire, love, and - most importantly - respect nature. The whites, on the other hand, see nature as something to own. It's territory to claim. It's land to take over. It's money. In this reading, much of Tayo's anger appears. The whites came in and stole land they never had and never will have rights to. They took something that isn't theirs to take. Tayo here shows that the white people don't understand the land and can't own it. But, then I wonder: is he also saying the Native Americans can't own the land? Does the land rightfully belong to the Native Americans (because they were there first) or does it belong to no one? The line that struck me as especially significant is found on page 221, "As far as he could see, in all directions, the world was alive." Perhaps what Silko is saying here is this: nature is something we should revere and take care of, but it's not something any group of people can claim and own.
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In this weekend's reading, Silko really develops Tayo's feeling towards the white man. For a while he just blames them for everything. On page 195 while Tayo is thinking about someone capturing him he says, "He wouldn't even be able to try to escape; they would find him collapsed under the tree," he clearly is saying that the whites have crippled the Native American communities to such an extent that they don't even have a chance to escape. But ten pages later he comes to the realization that "it was the white people who were suffering as thieves do...[that] only a few people knew that the lie was destroying the white people faster than it was destroying the Indian people" (204). There's this shift from self pity to pitying his oppressors. At first it kind of threw me off but I think it's sort of a necessary revelation. Stories keep the Native American tradition alive; no matter how much land is taken away some bit of hope will remain. For the whites, however, there is no hope. Individualism and greed have completely skewed their priorities. Tayo is finally realizing not only where he belongs, but why.
ReplyDeleteoh and his relationship with whites works as a reflection for the entire native american relationship with the whites (if it's not clear that that is what i think the political commentary is).
ReplyDeleteThe thing that most stood out to me in this weekends reading as political commentary on Silko's part was the contrast between Tayo's reaction to the mountain lion and the patrolmen's reaction. Tayo sings to the mountain lion, who the hunter's helper. The mountain lion stops and then goes on its way. He goes away because Tayo is honoring him and takes only what it offers him instead of being greedy. The patrolmen try to hunt and kill the mountain lion not because they need it desperately, but because they seek the approval it will achieve them from their boss. For the white patrolmen, Tayo and the mountain lion equal the same thing. They are both prey that will earn them respect from their boss if they are able to hunt them down. They are a prize. Ultimately, the patrolmen only choose the mountain lion over Tayo because the beautiful animal is more rare than the Native American. This is so clearly a comment on how the white community values nature and animals versus how the Native Americans do.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thanks to Emma for bringing me back to my childhood with that video. Now down to business. I also was drawn to all of the nature imagery, but in a different way. Though I definitely did see what Emma did with the white/Native American difference and do find that to be important, I also think this nature imagery is important in that it shows his healing. He is beginning to feel in harmony with nature, so through his eyes he sees it more. The grass, the sky, the mountains, all of these are beginning to show in the book now because they are finally appearing for Tayo through his perspective. Before, he saw only images from the war and had other depressing thoughts. Now his healing has begun and we therefore see the real world around him as should be seen. The quote, "The world was alive," (221) is very important because not only does it show this new relationship with nature, but it also is the first time he thinks about living rather than the death he saw in the war. Another important quote is, "Her eyes were shining, and they told him things that her words never said," (223). Not only is he in tune with nature, but other human beings now too. He is finally beginning to be connected to all the world around him.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone makes really good points. For some reason I keep focusing on Betonie and his relationship with Tayo. Tayo is this extremely broken character and he was put into this mental state thanks to something extremely American, he fought on their side in WWII. From what I remember about studying Native Americans, they were always a very peaceful people unless prompted otherwise. He goes from a hybrid of the white and Native American cultures to this ideal American, fighting for his nation, to just a mess, and slowly but surely he's finally becoming whole again. I just think it's really interesting that Betonie is the one bringing this out in him. He too borders two races, but at the same time is the shaman, the most important figure of the Native American culture. I think that Silko is infusing the novel with all of this nature imagery specifically because nature is the central dispute between the Native American and the white cultures, because who does the land belong to really? I think that she's actually trying to make a comment that the issue here is not who had the land first and at this point it's useless to argue, but it's about connectivity. If that makes sense. It's about being in tune with not only the surrounding nature, but of other cultures. That's just my reading of it though, I think it can really be interpreted many different ways.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the political commentary has to do with the way that both whites and Native Americans interact with nature. While the mountain lion represents honor and perhaps compassion to the Native American culture, to the patrolman it is simply a material object to show his boss. He is unable to appreciate this creature and realize it is actually alive. The patrolman and the majority of the white culture are confused and are not able to understand Tayo's and the Native American's connection to nature. The nature imagery highlights exactly how important it is to Tayo's people and how it functions as something beyond themselves. I also agree that Silko's message is that nature cannot be owned by any group of people and it is futile for different groups to fight over something we really have no claim over. While the whites simply take from nature and the environment and damage it, the Native Americans keep their distance while respecting it and even giving back to nature.
ReplyDeleteThough the author has been constantly reminding us of the whites' impact on Indian culture throughout the book, she makes her most pointed statement so far on page 191: "The lie...The liars had fooled evveryone, white people and Indians alike; as long as people believed the lies, they would never be able to see what had been done to them or what they were doing to each other." Tayo has finally risen above the feeling of victimization that most of this book's characters have succumbed to. Rather than becoming a casualty of the conflict between Indians and whites, he rises above it; he is able to see that the hostility from both sides stems from the same thing, the same lie.
ReplyDeleteThis realization seems to be an important step in Tayo's journey. While he hasn't yet found the cattle or solved his own emotional problems, Tayo is coming closer to both.
I agree that the reading presented Silko's views on the differences between Native Americans and whites. Like Ethan said, the differences between the two races can really be seen through their interactions with nature. While the Native Americans kill other living things solely for survival, the white patrols kill the mountain lion simply to gain approval from their boss. Their decision to bring back the mountain lion, rather than Tayo, to their boss shows the inferiority of the Native American race. However, Tayo tries to fight the whites by taking back his stolen cattle, which represent the land that was stolen by the whites. This message of taking back what was lost seems to be the point of Silko's novel.
ReplyDeleteThis section of the book centered around nature more so than the rest of the book thus far has. The bulk of it is description of the setting, or Silko's commentary on the way nature functions. With nature being the focal point, all of the action of the characters is presented as being secondary to nature. While within the action there is plenty of commentary on the Native American view of the whites, "It was a lot of trouble just for an Indian; maybe it would be too much trouble, and they would let him go" (201) "'these goddamn Indians got to learn whose property this is!'" (202) "...It was he white people who had nothing; it was the white people who were suffering as thieves do, never able to forget that their pride was wrapped in something stolen, something that had never been, and could never be, theirs..." (204), I think that the overarching theme of this section was that nature reigns supreme over those who fight to claim it for themselves. "The snow-covered mountain remained, without regard to titles of ownership or the white ranchers who thought they possessed it. They logged the trees, they killed the deer, bear, and mountain lions, they built their fences high; but the mountain was far greater than all of these things" (219). I have a growing concern for the building anger Tayo has towards whites. He is just beginning to see the world the way Native Americans have always seen it, and I think he is going to ruin the identity he is forming if he focuses too much on the destructive power of the whites. Silko has been writing about the supreme power of nature in this section to prove to the reader that Tayo simply has to accept the fact that things are the way they are - whites treat nature differently than Native Americans do, and even if they "own" most of the land, Tayo must appreciate nature the same way Native Americans always did.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, it has always bothered me when people use the word Indians to talk about Native Americans. Even though it's just a name, and everything I wrote about above sort of contradicts what I'm saying now, it's just one of those things that makes me cringe - I think it's disrespectful.
About the word "Indian" - it's interesting that Silko uses the word to describe Tayo in this section. Maybe this is used to shed light on Tayo's awareness of the white's opinion of him. It could also be a message from Silko, saying that she doesn't care how Tayo is referred to, because, again, nature reigns supreme over the petty conflicts of humans.
ReplyDeleteOne of the big conflicts for Tayo throughout the whole book, not only this section, is trying to figure out where he fits in. There is a theme that I've noticed often ever since reading Forbidden City in middle school, of trying to return to a place where you once fit, only to find that during your absence you or it has changed enough that you no longer belong in the only place where you've ever belonged. Tayo belongs in the Indian world. We see through the beautiful descriptions in this section how his mindset is far more like an Indian than a White. Even though he has mixed blood and was always closer to the edge of Indian society, he was an accepted member of his tribe and community. However, because of the horrors he witnessed as a part of the white's war (WWII), he no longer can find his place in that world. He is trapped in a sort of limbo, a no-man's-land, between two different worlds each of which wants to send him off to the other.
ReplyDelete