In Tommy Orange's There, There, there is a constant battle with identity within culture that presents itself. Orange does an excellent job of showing this struggle within identity in the Native American culture. He does so through the characters of Orvil Red Feather and Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield.
The two characters represent contrasting viewpoints on this struggle with identity. Orvil expresses worry that he is not Native enough, and struggles with his lack of identity within his Native American culture. Contrarily, Opal is very aware of her Native identity, and makes efforts in an attempt to hide it from the world, as well as from Orvil. Being only fourteen, Orvil is at the age where it is normal to want to feel apart of something. With little to no information about his culture, he feels a sort of longing to be apart of a whole. His longing for identity can be seen in the quote, "It's important that he dress like an Indian, dance like an Indian, even if it is an act, even if he feels like a fraud the whole time, because the only way to be Indian in this world is to look and act like an Indian. To be or not to be Indian depends on it" (Orange 122). Orvil feels as if his identity depends upon how Indian he is, and with no information about his culture from his elders, he feels like he has an identity based upon nothing.
On the other hand, Opal, who has a strong sense of identity within her culture, attempts to shield others such as Orvil from it. Opal explains why she is so brief and direct when addressing Orvil and his brothers, "It's to prepare them for a world made for Native people not to live but to die in, shrink, disappear" (Orange 165). From Opal's own experiences, she has only seen the chaos and struggle that comes with being Native, and wants to protect Orvil from it. Despite this, Orvil is drawn to his identity and attempts to inform himself about it. This is shown in the book when mentioning his use of the internet, "And virtually everything Orvil learned about being Indian he'd learned virtually. From watching hours of powwow footage, documentaries on YouTube, be reading all that there was to read on sites like Wikipedia, PowWows.com, and Indian Country Today" (Orange 121). In a sense, it is apparent that both characters want what they cannot have. Orvil wants to be apart of his Native American culture, Opal does not.
In the story, there are separate instances of spider legs being found in both Orvil and Opal's legs. The significance of spiders is mentioned in the book, and is discussed to hold importance to the Native American culture. The usage of the spider leg bump that both Orvil and Opal have serves as a physical representation that whether one identifies with their culture or does not, it is inherently apart of them.
Very insightful post, Sadie! I especially like how you pointed out the contrast between Opal and Orvil and how their views of Native American culture. The inclusion of this relationship and contrasting desires makes me wonder what Orange is trying to say about violence in relation to Native American identity. To me, it seems like the message is, no matter how accepting or understanding someone is of their Native American culture, all Native Americans will suffer similar hardships until a change is made in American culture. This is similar to what you said about the spider legs and how, while Opal might choose to ignore her culture, it will always be a part of her. When the Big Oakland Powwow is robbed, we see characters meet their violent ends. The characters that end up dead all share similar fates, regardless of how accepting they are of their culture. This suggests that no matter how much someone may choose to ignore their Native American culture, it will always be a part of them and the trauma that comes is inescapable. Until America lends more empathy and resources, and reckons with the sins they have committed against Native Americans, trauma will always be a main component of the lives of Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed this stark difference in how Orvil and Opal experience their own nativeness. Opal grew up knowing who she was, and she was surrounded by other Native people her whole life. She also felt that a lot of the harm that befell her in her early life was because of the way Natives are treated. This harm in a way transfers itself to Orvil through the way Native culture is presented to him by Opal. The passing of this is inter-generational trauma is by no means Opal's fault. Her efforts to suppress Orvil's interest in Native culture was the exact outcome her oppressors wanted. Because of the way other people made her feel about her culture and her identity, she subconsciously passed those beliefs down to Orvil and his brothers.
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