Tony Hillerman

HI-113A Assignment Thirteen
(1) Write a brief biographical portrait of novelist Tony Hillerman, with emphasis on his impact and influence on the Southwestern novel. Tony Hillerman was an American novelist who was born to a less than wealthy family in Oklahoma. He and his two siblings grew up in a diverse agricultural region of the Southwest, therefore they were fully aware of the divisions of native, Anglo, and Hispanic Americans, as well as those of social class, religious, and political ideology: The environment in which he grew up greatly influenced the novels as an adult. As a child and young adult, he tended to focus on his education, rather than a social life, Hillerman showed great interest in many fields, and after graduating high

Tony grew up well aware of the vast cultural differences of the American population, which lead to social, cultural, and economic unrest. He saw the struggle that many went through in order to coexist and survive, and he himself experienced those hardships. Hillerman not only witnessed and experienced the troubles of his environment but he also studied them, and how they affected the people of different backgrounds, and in turn, how the people responded to the issues they faced. His novels incorporated the issues that the people of the Southwest dealt with, they did not focus on the issues themselves, but how the issues affected the lives of ordinary people and the environment in which they live. Hilleman’s novels include people from different Indian tribes, Anglos, Hispanics, and internal migrants who came to New Mexico: he masterfully intertwines the values and ideology of those people, which exposed the world to the different points of view, as well as the cultural diversity within the Southwest. Tony’s readers experienced life in the Southwest through his writings because it gave them a detailed perspective of the people and their surroundings. In my opinion, what made Tony Hillerman the most successful at spreading his vision of the Southwest was the introduction of Navajo culture to the American public and the world. Other authors, artist, and scholars have sought inspiration from the culture and environment of New Mexico, but very few took interest in the Navajo. Tony Hillerman did not only gain inspiration from the Navajo but he made others aware of their culture, the issues they face in the modern world, and their