Opal and Orvil: Cultural Identity Discovery
In the novel There There by Tommy Orange, there are a series of very different people who are tied together by their Native American roots and culture. Throughout the story many characters feel as though they do not belong to their Native American culture but what they further discover is that they will find themselves when they accept their culture. The family dynamic of finding oneself through native culture is evident in the story of Opal and Orvil.
One of the main characters, Orvil, is not exposed to his native culture because Opal does not want to show him how the culture has changed from its original meaning. Opal tries to “prepare them for a world made for Native people not to live but to die in, shrink, disappear” (Orange 242). By not incorporating and teaching the native values into Orvil’s life, it makes him more curious about the culture.
Opal’s mother tells her that, “the monster that was the machine that was the government had no intention of slowing itself down for long enough to truly look back to see what happened” (Orange 58). This quote is referring to how stories are what has shaped the native culture into what it is because there is no other way to spread the culture. Orvil was eager to learn more about the culture and he turned to the internet. His plan was to go to the next pow wow with his brothers after memorizing Native dances from online. Orvil’s eagerness to learn about his culture was something that was indescribable. Orvil finds an itchy bump on his leg which was filled with spider legs. He learns that Opal had this when she was younger and it symbolizes his cultural identity inside him. The spider symbol shows that no matter what, the native culture will remain a part of him so if he chooses to ignore it the feeling will get worse.
When Orvil brings himself and brothers to the powwow the powwow ends in chaos because of a mass shooting. Orvil ends up being shot and in the hospital, Opal turns to the culture she has known since a young age. Because of the mass shooting, Opal ends up finding her personal identity through her cultural identity and prays that Orvil makes it through the shooting. Overall, Opal and Orvil develop their personal identity through their cultural identity in There There by Tommy Orange.
While Opal tries to deter Orvil from connecting with his Native American heritage to prepare him from the real world, he finds himself drawn to learning about it anyway because it helps him find his own identity. Even though the regalia feels wrong on him, his thirst for connection drives him to go to the powwow anyway. As Orange reveals “it’s important that he dress like an Indian, dance like an Indian...because the only way to be Indian in this world is to look and act like an Indian” (Orange 122). In other words, the only way Orvil can be more comfortable with himself and who he is, is to fully embrace his identity of Native American even if it makes him feel like an imposter. Historically, Native Americans have been stripped of their cultural identity in the name of assimilation. Powwows were created to help revive their lost identity, because they “needed a place to be together” (Orange 135). And, what Orvil needs more than anything is to be in a place where he can experience what he feels has been taken away from him. His virtual discovery of his cultural identity helped him feel like he was a part of something, “something you could dance to” (Orange 121). He felt the presence of “all his ancestors who made it so he could be there dancing and listening to that sound” (Orange 126) while dancing in Opal’s room, giving him something to help him form his individual identity.
ReplyDelete