1st posting - Heather Myers
HMyers9901 (HMyers9901@aol.com)
Fri, 31 Oct 1997 14:54:59 EST
In regards to the way the story is written, as far as the non-linear fashion
that it seems to jump around in, I really believe that it is not all that
unusual. How many of us think on only one line of thought and never skip
between thoughts during our day? I know I can be thinking of something that I
know I must concentrate on, either for a class or for some issue in my life
that needs addressing and it never fails - the mind wanders. I think maybe
Silko was just trying to show that Tayo's mind is doing a lot of this jumping
around as a result of his "illness". I know the story isn't a complete
narrative spoken only through Tayo, but it seems that maybe Silko is just
trying to give us an inside view of what it's like to be in Tayo's mind. We
all know from the reading that after each passage it's a guarantee the time
frame changes and we are in another time and place. Maybe Tayo feels so "ill"
because it seems he can't control these jumping thoughts. To be out of
control is not a secure feeling. I think this really ties into the
differences between white christian medical practices and Laguna beliefs. On
page 33 Grandma knows that Tayo needs more than just a white man's doctor when
she suggests to Auntie that they send for the medicine man, but Auntie tries
to fight Grandma and gives lame arguements for why she doesn't want one. On
page 30 Auntie is supposed to be "above all else...a Christian woman", why
then if she is Laguna and knows that a medicine man can probably help Tayo,
does she make excuses for why they should not have one? Maybe she is
unconsciously wishing for Tayo's death so that she will be rid of the
"embarrassment and gossip" within their community.
Heather
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