Summary Of Rayona In A Yellow Raft In Blue Water

While growing up, most children feel lonely or isolated at some point. Some even feel so their whole childhood and adolescence. Unfortunately, some feel as though everything they are, such as the color of their skin, is wrong. They feel it’s as if they can’t fit in no matter how persistent they are. As a result, some opt to stay inside during recess, or go home after school instead of to an activity to avoid feeling like an outsider. Many drown in this for years, until they stumble across some self-confidence and learn to accept who they really are. This is the case with Rayona in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water, by Michael Dorris. Rayona struggles with feeling so lonely, until she accepts her uniqueness and lets herself be buoyant. Rayona flounders

It starts at the beginning of her time there when she goes to her first God Squad meeting. After meeting Annabelle and Foxy, it becomes clear to Rayona awfully fast that “it’s just a matter of time until Father Tom decides [she’s] his special project” (45). Father Tom takes Rayona on a weekend trip off the reservation. While they were supposedly on their way to the Teens for Christ Jamboree, he talks to her about the changes in her body due to puberty. This isn’t the first time he has confronted her with topics of sexuality, but this was the first time he has her alone where she couldn’t escape. He then proceeds by sexually assaulting her on a yellow raft. As Father Tom and Rayona talk about it afterwards, Rayona can, “hear the blame in his voice”, and he further isolates her by putting his crime all on her shoulders (61). At the rodeo, when Rayona is confronted by Father Tom, Evelyn, who became a mother figure for Rayona in her time at the state park, came to the rescue for Rayona. Father Tom was going to say something to Rayona, “but his words dry up fast when he sees Evelyn’s face. He knows she knows, and she knows he does. Evelyn beats him down with her gleaming look, reads him his rights, and gives him no more chances” (126). Rayona gained confidence and support when she grew close to Evelyn by emerging from the cage Father Tom put her in with

She taught Rayona some valuable lessons about not giving up. When Rayona was thrown off Babe the first time at the rodeo, she told herself that “the first toss is warm-up, practice”. She didn't allow herself to be put down by the horse. They had to be equally frustrated with each other and reach a point of acceptance towards each other. So Rayona grabs “the rope, [throws her] arms around her neck and [swings] aboard” to take another shot of working together with Babe (117). The way Rayona handles the challenge Babe presents her with, is the way she begins to look at her situation with her mother. She isn’t just going to let Christine walk all over her anymore, and she desires to possess a stronger relationship with her mother. The dawn after Rayona arrives at Dayton’s house she’s pleasantly “surprised how natural it feels to be with her now. . . . Maybe it’s because early mornings have always been [their] time together” (134). After the initial blow out consisting of the two of them the night before, they both surpassed their differences and can now exist together without riling the other up. Riding Babe was a fantastic experience for Rayona, because she became aware of how it’s worth it to continue striving to be a stronger