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Motifs and Themes, Dissonance in the mind, Tayo stabbing Emo in the belly …
Motifs and Themes
spider and web
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p. 87, "the spider womn had told the sun man how to win the clouds back from the Gambler"
web= culture, fillaments= stories, sun= lessons
P. 139- "we must have power from everywhere. Even the power we can get from the whites"
Does power connect among different groups?
symbolism of the web - intricate and delicate culture built on stories (which are built on words); could easily be destroyed or misunderstood
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light vs dark
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One cannot exist without the other(darkness is the absense of light idea) You cannot see the stars without darkness
"someone commented that it was a seductive night... to tell the stories they had for nights like this night" P. 135
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Paradox/irony/oxymorons
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P. 188- "the Texan said, ... 'These goddamn Indians got to learn who's property this is!'"
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belly
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base of culture
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pg 163, "excitement in his belly" when retrieving the cattle
P. 139- "'You Mexicans have no patience,' he said, stroking her belly"
Pg. 24 "Animals did not resist. But they persisted, because they became part of the wind. 'Inside,Tayo, inside the belly of the wind.'"
Belly as the core/ foundation
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colors
yellow
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pg 182, "yellow smoke" "yellow pollen"
blue
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P. 81- "The woman watched the bright blue door on the second-story porch, and they imagined unspeakable scenes between the Night Swan and their husbands or sons."
cattle
cattle symbolize Tayo's culture, and to finish his ceremony and heal he had to follow Josiah's wishes by reclaiming the cattle
p. 115- Did the cattle kill him-- did I let the cattle kill him?
Connects to when Ku'oosh asked him who he killed in order to complete ceremony
Pg 209-210 "They (the cattle) had moved suddenly, like a whirlwind, dust, and sand flying up from their hooves as they chased him (the injured bull) back toward the truck and horse trailer."
"Tayo's heart beat fast; he could see Josiah's vision emerging, he could see the story taking form in bone and muscle."
The injured bull is representative of Tayo returning from the war with PTSD, and having to reintegrate into the community. The cattle's Mexican background connects to Tayo's mixed ancestry and reveals his connection to the cattle as a ceremony that brings him closer to Josiah (ancestor).
pg 68- "cattle are like any living thing. If you seperate them from the land for too long, keep them in barns and corrals, they lose something"
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Dissonance in the mind
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symbolism of beds (representative of rest) but expresses discomfort in them - ironic. Pgs 5, 30, 35
Dissonance over culture and outside world - Pg. 93 - 94. "'But our teacher said so. She said they are bad and carry sickness.'".... "'Next time, just remember the story.'"
Dissonance between knowledge and feeling. Pg. 114 - anaphora of "I know" and "I feel" - fighting between the two
The mind symbolizes knowledge while the gut ("belly") symbolizes feeling - which one should we trust?
PTSD represents a form of dissonance - the battle of past traumas encroaching on the present.
Pg 15 "... he was sweating, and sounds were becoming outlines again, vague and hollow in his ears, and he knew he was going to become invisible right there."
"...He wasn't sure where he was anymore, maybe back in the jungles again... he expected a rifle barrel to be shoved into his face when he opened his eyes."
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