Tommy Orange's debut novel examines societal divides through the lens of modern Native American living. Throughout There, There, contrasts between age and youth, urban and rural, oppression and privilege, and acceptance and rejection are explored as many Native voices in Oakland, California, navigate life's struggles before an upcoming powwow. An additional divide compares and contrasts male and female characters in the novel. As every character wrestles with connection to their Native American heritage in a modern, urban setting, the female perspectives of Opal and Jacquie, specifically, show how carrying the traditionally female burdens of caretaking and dealing with assault influence their willingness to embrace Native American history.
As Native Americans, half-sisters Opal and Jacquie realize their place as women in early adolescence. Even their last names of Bear Shield and Red Feather connect them to their female and Native heritage, as their mom says they "come from old Indian names. We had our own way of naming before white people came over and spread all those dad names around in order to keep the power with the dads" (65). Their mom tells Opal, named after her mother and grandmother, to "carry that big old name around with honor" (66). However, as Opal and Jacquie age, they both encounter hardship that leads them to shun their heritage. As Native Americans gather on Alcatraz Island, Jacquie experiences sexual assault from Harvey, and the girls are both forced to grow up in the absence of structure and discipline from their mother. Well after Alcatraz, they continue to navigate the pressures of womanhood, as Jacquie bears a child and gives her up for adoption and the Opal fends off further advances on Jacquie from Ronald. The half-sisters are not only subjected to the hardships of being Native American, because they have the added burden of being Native American women.
At the time that the novel takes place, Opal and Jacquie’s experiences have definitely shaped their willingness to embrace Native American history, but in vastly different ways from each other. Jacquie, after bearing another daughter and grieving her death, abandons her grandchildren and succumbs to an alcohol addiction. She chooses to shy away from the pain of her experiences in life, giving up true connection to her legacy and only recently beginning to communicate with her relatives over text (147). Jacquie is most distrustful of personal relationships and avoids them through addiction because of her experiences as a woman; Jacquie does not, however, ultimately shy away from her Native American heritage, as she eventually chooses to attend a Native American conference and make a trip to the Oakland powwow with Harvey after reconnecting with him an AA meeting. Her heritage becomes not something to shun, but something by which Jacquie says she can “‘make my way back’” (163) and define herself outside of being a failed mother and an addict.
Conversely, Opal utilizes her experiences as a woman to shun her Native American heritage. Opal assumes the role of caretaker for Jacquie’s three grandsons, and in embracing this role, she abandons all sense of connection to her Native American history. In Opal’s view, the experience of Alcatraz and subsequent trauma is best dealt with by prohibiting connection to heritage. While she is “secretly superstitious” (236), her duties as a caretaker who says of her grandsons, “it will take more for them to succeed than someone who is not Native” (242) supersede the desire to connect with anything cultural and lead her to dissuade her grandsons, even powwow-curious Orvil, from learning about heritage as well. Even though Jacquie and Opal grew up with similar hardships and are greatly influenced by womanhood and Native heritage alike, their ultimate approaches greatly differ.
I agree with you that Orange creates a divide between the masculine and feminine characters in this book. Many of the female characters seen in this novel are not in positions of power, unless they are a parent. For example, on Alcatraz, Opal and Jacquie’s mother was continually ignored by the men on the island. When Opal is describing her experience on the island, she says, “And the women weren’t listened to as much as our mom would have liked” (Orange 72). This power dynamic is present in many situations, and obviously is a big historical conflict. Orange uses sexism in this novel to point out real problems that are seen in society today with how women are treated, and perhaps he is trying to change the way women are treated in Native American culture.
ReplyDeleteMost of the adult women in this novel are caretakers for their children, and almost all of them are raising the kids without the father. Opal, Octavio’s grandmother, and Edwin’s mom all have to bear the responsibility of children all by themselves. They all take on this responsibility in different ways, such as how Opal decides to not teach Jacquie’s grandsons about their heritage. Opal’s experience with her single mother and the trauma she faced as a Native American woman shaped how she raised Orvil, Lony, and Loother.