The design of the novel “There There” by Tommy
Orange is to tell the stories of Native Americans which are often unheard. When
most non-native people think of Native American fiction they think of
reservation stories or some variety of historical fiction. They often regard
Native Americans as a traditional people living in the past. Tommy Orange and
his character Dene Oxendene have the same goal: tell the modern Native America
stories that are often ignored in favor of the nice narrative of compromise and
a guilt free relationship between Native Americans and white Americans. The use
of modernism and its juxtaposition with tradition throughout the novel showcase
both that Native Americans have been able to maintain their culture despite
attempts at cultural assimilation by the U.S. government and that Native
Americans still exist in the modern world as much as anyone else. Without the
constant reminder through modern technologies, music, language, and cultural
practices, it would be easy for the novel to be read as something timeless and
in the past. Much like “All the Living” it would be difficult to place
chronologically, and could therefore be dismissed as a novel simply depicting
issues of the past. Jacquie’s character specifically points out a lot of the issues
inherent in the Native American population through her own alcoholism, her work
with suicide prevention and substance abuse counselling, her rape, her mother’s
frequent evictions, and her daughter’s suicide. Even her presence at the
shooting at the end, although all of the characters are present then. She is
connected to the issues that are discussed in the book more than many of the
other characters, and her character is used to showcase them all in one place
that makes it clear how severe they all are, as well as contextualising all of
them as existing simultaneously. But without the constant reminders of the time
period, it would be easy to dismiss these issues as something from a different
era and to pretend that they no longer exist. However, between Jacquie’s
grandsons’ phones, Daniel’s drone, the 3-d printed guns, Edwin meeting his
father on facebook, and all the other, smaller acknowledgements of the modern
era, it is obvious that these are problems being faced now. Orange makes it
clear and constantly reminds the reader throughout the book that these are
modern problems, and they can’t be pushed aside as being something from a
different time.
I agree with your sentiments, Orange’s juxtaposition of the Native American characters and technology furthers his theme of the presence of modern natives and his challenge to the common perception of natives. It was really interesting how Orange brought to light the idea that we as a general population view Natives as they were hundreds of years ago, not as they are now. In addition, I really enjoyed how Orange brought about compromise between the characters’ historical past and modern present. Orange rooting much of the book in the modern age, with 3D-printed guns and the looming presence of the internet, makes an interesting point about bringing Natives out of their history and telling the reader that they are people, not images. The ending of the novel solidifies that idea. “Tony isn’t going anywhere”(290). Orange argues that Natives can’t be erased from modern society because they will always be here with their history.
ReplyDeleteLike most readers, I know very little about Native Americans and their culture. It’s a fact that I am in no way proud of. A large part of the “American” culture is the idea that we are superior to other people. If you simply compare histories recorded of the same event by two different countries you will get two different stories. This nation tends to sweep ugly histories under a rug and claim it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The US did that and is still doing that with Native Americans and the terrible things done to them. Just like you mentioned, the problems faced in this book, the struggles with Native identity, the idea of being a fraud if you don’t look “Indian”, the suppression of Indian culture for fear of being different, all take place in the present and are all side effects of the internment camps, boarding schools, and “beneficial” programs Native Americans were forced to participate in. I completely agree with your statement in regards to Dene Oxendene and Tommy Orange. I also agree with the message they are trying to get across in the novel. The way Orange set up the novel allowed us to see how different the lives of each individual in a Native American community can be and that they can’t be confined to the regalia-wearing stereotype we associate with them. Hopefully, in the near future, we will stop avoiding our history and work towards solving all of the problems this nation has avoided.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your interpretation of Orange’s use of a modern setting as a tool against native erasure and your observation that Orange goes against the grain of typical Native American fiction in setting There There in a contemporary, urban context. I found it interesting how you pointed out that without all the references to “modern technologies, music, language, and cultural practices” There There would be similar to All The Living in that it would be difficult to contextualize and could easily be interpreted as taking place further in the past. I hadn’t considered what made it evident to me that There There is set in modern times or how the book and its effectiveness might be affected if these signals were taken away. Modernity is crucial to the storytelling and deeper meaning of this novel, so it is interesting to think about what would remain if this key device was taken away. I think that if the novel could be perceived as taking place in the past, it could also be perceived as outdated or irrelevant, which would take away from its purpose– to remind the reader that Native Americans exist outside of reservations and history books, and that they are impacted by the actions of colonizers to this day.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your idea that the book would only be modern because of the technology used throughout the story. It could just be my subconscious view of Native American stories or the way it is written, but the book feels like it is set in more of the past. The references to the 3D guns and drones really bring this story back to the present. Other than those points, we could also have a better understanding of the time period based on the section about the occupation of Alcatraz. Since we can place this event during a specific part of US history, it helps us to have a better grasp on what range of time we are looking at in this book. Because of the lack of our modern technology in this section, it then allows us to see when it happens. The only technology reference specifically is television. Even if the reader has no knowledge of those events at all, they could infer it is happening in the early 70s based on the hippie aspects of the occupation. There is a part where Roosevelt is mentioned as well “Roosevelt said” (Orange 52). If this part took place in the present, it would be way less likely for someone to reference something about Roosevelt, we are farther away from that part of history. The use of this event lets the reader know that the book takes place at least after 1971, which pulls it away from the historical fiction style of Native American representation.
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