Daniel Post 6

This reading section, pages 108 to 139, was fairly interesting. In this section Tayo's health seems a lot better. It's mostly in the present but contains one flashback, which is good for Tayo. In the previous sections there are usually several flashbacks. This reduced number of flashbacks could indicate an increase in Tayo's health. For the most part this section describes the town of Gallup. Basically a town where Native Americans seeking a better future head to. Most of them are unsuccessful and become alcoholics and go to live in arroyo. With this Silko is trying to show what is becoming of Native Americans. She is presenting the stereotype that they are mindless drunks. Silko also indicates in the arroyo that most of the women constantly sleep with strangers. She doesn't say if they are prostitutes though. Also in Gallup white people run the town. They mistreat the Native Americans and pay them to little. Silko is showing how society mistreated the Native Americans, how they made them outcasts and helped them very little. All of this is shown through Tayo in what I believe is a flashback of him as a kid. As a kid Tayo constantly watches his mother come back with strange men. After this flashback Tayo continues up to a mountain overlooking Gallup and meets the medicine man Betonie. Betonie has interesting out looks on life. He suggests change is a natural occurrence that must happen for things to continue thriving. I totally agree with this. Tayo then meets Betonies helper Shush. Shush is a small boy caught between two worlds, the bears and humans. In a way I think he symbolizes Tayo who is also stuck between the worlds of whites and Native Americans. Betonie then explains that white people aren't causing everything that they too are responsible for all these bad things, that they can't only blame the white people.

Quotes:
"The wind will blow them across the ocean thousands of them in giant boats swarming like larva out of a crushed ant hill." (Page 136) - This simile the witch says in his story describes how the white men will swarm over everything just like larva would. The white men will be like ants attacking anything to stay alive. It's a good way of putting what did happen. Also I noticed that larva are white and the people being described are white but that's probably a coincidence.

"It is very peaceful with the bears; the people say that's the reason human beings seldom return." (Page 130) - In this quote Silko could be comparing how some Native Americans go to be with the bears because it would seem to be an easier life. Just how many are leaving the reservations to go into cities to be successful. She's showing how the white world draws Native Americans in and how it's difficult to bring them back to their culture.