In “There There,” Orange communicates the effects of oppression through each of the characters. One effect, which the book clearly communicates, is the lack of identity among the Native American characters. The mother of Jacquie and Opal moves her family to Alcatraz to validate her identity as a Native American. Jacquie’s grandson, Orvil, wants to learn more about his identity as a Native American through performing a dance at the powwow. Blue longs for identity as a Native American after growing up feeling white. Tony gives up strengthening his identity as a Native American once he grows up. In the end, the absence of a secure identity is detrimental to all of the characters in the book.
The mother of Jacquie and Opal takes them to Alacratraz to protest the government’s oppression of Native Americans. The mother tells her daughters, “We’re going to be with our relatives. Indians of All Tribes” (48). Their mother believes this will validate the identity of Native Americans and help them “rise again” (48). Despite Opal’s disapproval, Orvil attempts to learn more about his identity as a Native American through dancing. Opal describes being Native American “Like drinking or smoking or voting. Indianing” (118). Opal’s push against anything Native American makes it hard for Orvil to find identity as a Native American. Blue also longs to find identity as a Native American. At one point, Blue thinks, “And inside I feel as white as the long white pill-shaped throw pillow my mom always made me on my bed even though I never used it” (198). Because she is adopted, Blue did not grow up with an identity as a Native American. She decides to go to Oklahoma to find out more about where she comes from. As Orange writes, “She’d gone all that way to Oklahoma to find out where she came from and all she’d gotten for it was a color for a name. No one had heard of any Red Feather family” (237). Blue doesn't get answers until the powwow, where she finally finds Jacquie Red Feather. In contrast to Blue’s childhood, Tony grows up around Native American events. The book says, “Maxine had been taking me to powwows all around the Bay since I was young. I don’t anymore, but I used to dance” (23). Although Tony grows up with somewhat of an identity as a Native American, he leaves that behind when he is older.
None of the characters in the book have a secure identity as a Native American. This can be largely attributed to the oppressions each one has suffered from being Native American. Trying to find identity results in each of the characters being at the powwow, where each one experiences the trauma of a shootout. The lack of identity in Tony and his accomplices Octavio, Carlos, and Charles results in them turning against each other. Because they do not know and embrace their Native American identity, each character suffers.
I am glad you highlighted the lack of identity between the characters. Before reading your post I couldn't think of the word identity. As we mentioned in class, all of the characters have some kind of Native American background and are struggling internally regarding some aspect of being Native American. After reading this post, the word I was thinking of was identity.
ReplyDeleteEven though all the characters struggle with identity, they struggle with it for different reasons. For those like Edwin and Blue, they did not have their Native American parents in their life until they find out who they are from the powwow. Before the powwow, each not only did not know who their parents were, they also did not know who they were as a Native American. After Edwin makes contact with Harvey and learns he is from "Cheyenne. Southern. Out of Oklahoma" tribe, he experiences an internal crisis. His entire life has been surrounded by attempting to learn about his Native American identity (Orange 104). He's been working towards learning what tribe he's from to feel as if he can say he's Native American and can answer to question of his tribe. Edwin even says "every possible way I think that it might look for me to say I'm Native seems wrong" (Orange 104). He does not feel as though he can say he's Native because he cannot say what tribe he is from. Even though he earns a college degree about Native American studies and has a deep knowledge about tribal history, he feels wrong saying he is Native. His identity crisis doesn't lie with knowledge of Native American history and what it means to be Native American, it lies with the uncertainty of what it means to him specifically.
A search for Identity is a big theme that has been present in all of the books we have read so far and especially in There There. To me, one of the most interesting instances of identity in There There is the conflict biracial Native Americans face. Throughout history, white America has been notorious for its mistreatment of minorities, especially Native Americans. In There There, we follow multiple characters who come from conflicting races. "A concrete chip, a slab really, heavy on one side, the half side, the side not white. As for your mom's side, as for your whiteness, there's too much and not enough there to know what to do with. You're from a people who took and took and took and took. And from a people taken. You were both and neither. When you took baths, you'd stare down at your brown arms against your white legs in the water and wonder what they were doing together on the same body, in the same bathtub" (Orange, 216). Thomas Frank struggles with his identity of conquered and conquering in his own body. This highlights just one of the identity struggles found within There There and how a conflicting biracial background can make it difficult for someone to understand who they are and how to look or act, how to live or be. How does Thomas Frank find his identity, when the white side of his makeup has still not atoned for the chaos it has caused the people of his other half.
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