In "Love Medicine" by Lousie Erdrich, the main character Lipsha Morrissey tells a few different stories, also is trying to help his Grandpa find the faithfulness he once had with Grandma. During the story Lipsha learns a few different lessons. Lipsha learns two important lessons while in the slough. The first lesson Lipsha learns is to be grateful for life. Lipsha says to himself "Lipsha Morrissey, you're a happy S.O.B who could be covered up with weeds by now down at the bottom of this slough, but instead you're alive to tell the tale."
Throughout history, there have been many literary studies that focused on the culture and traditions of Native Americans. Native writers have worked painstakingly on tribal histories, and their works have made us realize that we have not learned the full story of the Native American tribes. Deborah Miranda has written a collective tribal memoir, “Bad Indians”, drawing on ancestral memory that revealed aspects of an indigenous worldview and contributed to update our understanding of the mission system, settler colonialism and histories of American Indians about how they underwent cruel violence and exploitation. Her memoir successfully addressed past grievances of colonialism and also recognized and honored indigenous knowledge and identity.
At the core of Erdrich’s novel is this underlying connection and sense of the extended family that exists in the Ojibwe community. These family units, consisting not only of parents and children but also those of other close relations
Appreciation is one of the important thought that goes through the story. Louise Erdrich is plainly appreciative for what her mom has given her: Saving her own life to permit her later to manage another youngster; life itself through birth; and life once more, through her salvage from the flame. It is her appreciation that pulls Louise Erdrich home to peruse books to her mom, "to peruse so everyone can hear, to peruse long into the dull in the event that I should, to peruse throughout the night. " Although it is inferred that her arrival comes at a pivotal crossroads in her own life (suggested by her reference to her fizzled life), it is an uncommon youngster to demonstrate a guardian such generous appreciation. She comes back to satisfy the capacity that her dad started in the clinic, that of perusing so anyone might hear.
The novel There There by Tommy Orange is an influential social commentary on the contemporary issues of violence and addiction in Native American communities. These issues came from historical trauma, and continue to affect Native American communities today. The first key issue that is exposed
How is your feeling when you are falling in love? Most of the people say “it is awesome” because they “fall in love with the most unexpected person at the most unexpected time.” How do show your love? Every person has his or her own ways to show his or her love; therefore, Erdrich’s character – Grandma Kashpaw in Love Medicine also has her own ways.
The way people view Native Americans and their culture From the start of the book, it would seem like it would be about the Native culture. In this book, Louise Erdrich is expressing there’s characters through traditional native culture. As the book continues to develop you really understand the struggle they when through and how they kept their native culture alive. Love Medicine is a book that establishes the way the native culture pushes to strive to keep their culture alive and going.
Strength is in the Eye of the Beholder A Tale of Two Grandmas It is often said that perception is reality. In Louise Erdrich’s novel, “Love Medicine,” this is not entirely accurate. Lipsha Morrissey is a young man adopted by whom he refers to as his “Grandma” Marie Kapshaw.
In Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich, the narrative ends with Lipsha’s perspective as he is told the identity of his parents, June Morrissey and Gerry Nanapush, and reacts to these new revelations. This ending is important in light of the entire novel because it emphasizes the importance of families and claiming their ancestry. This is specifically seen in Lipsha’s confusion and desire to trace his ancestry after being told about his parents and his act of driving June’s car back onto the reservation, in effect, “bring[ing] her home” (367). Lipsha’s desire to discover his family’s ancestry is important in light of the community’s focus on familial relationships, as seen throughout the novel.
“Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die. ”2 Paul the Apostle was quite the writer of classical quotes, as this one can be used to illustrate the constant struggle of the Native Americans living in reservations as well as the Corinthians he wrote to. Throughout their lives, Native Americans often fall prey to alcoholism and the challenges that come with it. This issue will be approached through the usage and explanation of three main arguments: Firstly, by looking at the protagonist’s family in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian3, and secondly, by considering the Spokane community as a whole in the same book, and lastly, by reflecting on the real-life situation, it is possible to paint a clear picture of alcohol’s role in Native
It was my decision to move to New England where our perfect den was compromised Thinking that living upon a hill could detract my soul from dark influences, I sent your tolerant mother to Boston to establish a residence for the both of us upon my arrival. However, completely unanticipated, I found myself for two years, living in the wild amongst the Indians learning their way of life in regard to their medicines and cures and most importantly, the way in which they lived life beyond what I could have imagined or ever read in any single
In all the different tribes, none of the women are seen as less than the men, however in European culture at the time, the women were seen as weak and lesser beings. Gunn Allen tackles this issue using ethos logos and pathos by appealing to the readers through logic, emotion and her personal experiences. With Ethos Gunn Allen makes herself a credible source by mentioning that she is a “half breed American Indian woman. ”(83) making her story worth paying attention to rather than if it were a story by an outsider who truly has nothing to do with the American Indian women.
Once European men stepped foot onto what is now known as North America, the lives of the Native Americans were forever changed. The Indians suffered centuries of torment and ridicule from the settlers in America. Despite the reservations made for the Natives, there are still cultural issues occurring within America. In Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the tragic lives of Native Americans in modern society are depicted in a collection of short stories taking place in the Spokane Reservation in Washington state. Throughout the collection, a prominent and reoccurring melancholic theme of racism against Native Americans and their struggle to cope with such behavior from their counterpart in this modern day and age is shown.
The most common theme throughout the book is the use of alcohol and alcoholism among Native Americans. The use of alcohol in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, shows its inappropriate role in Native American society. Junior’s writing after his sister’s death exemplifies this when he says that he, “Knew everybody would tell stories about Mary… and the whole time, everybody would be drinking booze and getting drunk and stupid and sad and mean” (pages 211-212). Alcohol has taken Junior’s sister from him, but in the process it reveals the truth of the stereotype of alcoholic Native Americans. Alcohol is used in a nonchalant manner and becomes normal to Native Americans.
Louise Erdrich’s novel Tracks, serves as a tool to awaken the past of the people that have been forgotten, and their culture that is no longer thought about or misconstrued. This novel offers insight and powerful knowledge into the rich lives of Native Americans. Erdrich uses specific characters in her novel to show the culture and religion of one specific group of Native Americans. Tracks connects the reader to the lives and struggles of Ojibwa people by telling the story of three main characters, Nanapush, Fleur, and Pauline, as they fight against modern colonialism. Nanapush and Fleur demonstrate their adherence to traditional Ojibwa religion and culture by doing traditional forms of medicine and connecting as one with the land, while Pauline demonstrates her rejection to Ojibwa religion and culture by denying her Native American religion and
