Shaun #4

The book is alright I kind of like it so far. "Those books are written by scientists. They know everything there is to nkow about beef cattle. That's the trouble with the way the people around here have done things they never knew what they were doing." (76) I think Rocky really has his mind set to that the white people are always right. Trying to be successful in the white world he has to understand things there way no room for culture or customs. I find it really ironic that Auntie is so proud of Rocky and everything and yet he shows so much disrespect to them and their culture. However if thats what Rocky wants to do then she should just let him be. "That dirty mexican woman did it so Ulibarri could get rid of those worthless cattle. They gypped him. They made an old fool out of him." (76)Which lady is she talking about exactly? I was kind of thrown off on this quote. This is an example of auntie not liking the people Josiah is with. She also doesn't like the relationship that he has with Night Swan. Night Swan is an interesting character I know she is a dancer at the bar and stuff but is she a prostitue too? Or just a dancer? I know it says like rumors were said that she has lots of guys over and where she got all her money from so I was just wondering.

Daniel Blog 4

During this reading the book really cleared up a lot of relationships and character views. It showed me how Auntie views Tayo as basically a burden that she has to deal with and take care of. She only cares for him for her sister and to reduce the shame of the family. This made me just hate Auntie even more. She's fairly selfish and just a plain idiot to me. Also this section spoke a lot of Josiah. He is a very kind man and it seems to me like he and Tayo have a very strong connection. Josiah's cattle story didn't seem to have any purpose to me at first. After thinking about it I feel that it's purpose was just to show Josiah's nature, his curiosity and laid back attitude. Also I believe it was put in to show Rocky's non-existent belief in Native American Customs. This new character Night Swan is very strange to me. She's an old dancer and I think she's a prostitute. Also Josiah has had some kind of emotional connection with her that I don't quite understand yet.

Quotes:

" 'Rocky is different,' she kept saying, 'but this one, he's supposed to stay here.' " (Page 73) - This quote shows Aunties attitude toward Tayo. She's trying to hold Tayo back because of the shame he has brought to her. She wants Rocky to succeed and go to war and doesn't want Tayo along with him.

"His eyes were still feverish as he spoke and his fingers quivered like the legs of a dreaming dog; at that moment he wanted her more than he had ever wanted her." (Page 85) - I really liked it's simile because i could totally picture a guys hands freaking out like my dogs legs do when she sleeps. I thought it was pretty funny. Also this quote is pretty passionate and I think it's talking about Night Swans old lover but I'm not quite sure.

I have a couple questions: Just to clear something up Robert is Auntie's husband? Also does Josiah have an interest in Night Swan?

Devin's 4th

“What did they know about raising cattle? They weren’t scientist. Auntie had been listening but did not seem to notice Rocky’s disrespect. She valued Rocky’s growing understanding of the outside world, of the books, of everything of importance and power.” (pg. 76)
This quote portraits one of the themes within the book where auntie is blindly following the new traditions of the world not regarding their Indian traditions and such.
I would like to find out what is aunties motive for the new ways she wishes Rocky to learn.
“It had the clarity of the sky after a summer rainstorm, when the dust was washed away, and the colors of the hills and the shadows of the mesas had an intensity which made everything he saw accessible, as if he could touch all of it, even the little green rabbit weed growing close to the sand, its tiny leaves clustered like stars.” (pg. 78-79)
I felt this quote has great use of imagery and similes ect. I picked it out just because I think it foreshadows his life looking upward. After his summer rainstorm (the war) he now sees everything in a brighter light, as if he could access all of it.
I kind of got lost after either the auntie or the grandma starts talking. I’m guessing that night swan is the one dancing, but who does that refer to. If someone could clear this up that would be great. Or just tell me about the night swan section, thanks!

Jessica #4

So thus far in the book I still like it but I thought this section spent too much time in the past compared to earlier in the book. I think that staying in the past and going from scene to scene is more difficult to understand verses going back and fourth between present and past. I can’t remember what pages this blog covers so it is going to overlap a little so sorry about that. I think that it is amazing that Rocky called Tayo his brother. I think that deep inside Tayo had been waiting his whole life just to hear those words. His family did not fully accept him when his mother left him. Auntie treated him like crap and Rocky was forced to keep his distance to having that reassurance that Rocky loves him as his brother is really important to Tayo. I thought it was interesting that Auntie said that Tayo is different and is not suppose to go to war but she thinks it is ok for her own son to go. I guess she really wants Rocky to leave the reservation and to enter the “white world” but as his mother it is kind of weird that she is ok with him going to war she thinks was started by the white people and should be fought by the white people. Josiah is really revealed in this section. I agree with Geoff and think that he is a great guy for taking a chance with the Mexican cattle but his relationship with Night Swan is kind of off to me. I think Night Swan is a professional dancer because it says that she traveled for her dancing. I think that her reputation is very poor but she is not a prostitute. I can’t tell if she is really in love with Josiah or she just wants to rip him off with the cattle so her uncle can make money. It seems he has fallen in love with her but I can’t tell if she loves him in return. The cattle seem to represent something but I can’t tell what. Maybe it is ignorance for buying bad cattle or maybe they represent Rocky in how that they always want to leave. But nope can’t tell.
“”Those books are written by scientists. They know everything there is to know about beef cattle. That’s the trouble with the way people around here have always done things- they never knew what they were doing” (pg 76) I thought this showed how much Rocky does not care for his culture.
“’ They called me the Night Swan,” she said. “I remember every time I have danced.’” (pg 84)

Geoff- Post 4

"'They try that the first two or three days after you move them, but they'll settle down. We can handle them, Tayo.' The Mexican cattle settled down and moved more slowly, but they still had little regard for fences. They watered and grazed at the Canoncito windmill for a few days before they started traveling again." (79). Before I go any further, I would like to say these are not any kind of cow I have ever heard of. Some old cowboy wisdom: "You can put range cattle in a pasture, but you can't put pasture cattle on the range." Normally, a cow that has lived in a pasture knows the limits of his area; he walks the fence perimeter daily, and respects that. If put on the range, that cow will search for the fence; he'll keep walking in one direction and you'll never find him. A range cow, however, is of a different mentality; all he cares about is grass, and as long as there is grass and water, he doesn't care about fences. I've never seen Mexican cattle in action, but why would a cow leave an area with plenty of water?
That being said, I think the Mexican cattle are supposed to be symbolic of what Tayo's attitude will become. If you read the blurb on the back of the book, Tayo goes "back to the Indian past". I believe the fences represent boundaries that European values place on Tayo, and that he like the cattle, will break through them due to a primeval drive. Just speculation.
I do not know what to think of the character Josiah. On the one hand, I admire the fact that he is eager to make money by raising cattle. However, it's sort of amoral that he has decided to have a relationship with a character such as Night Swan (was she a prostitute? I sort of got that from reading the part about how her old boyfriend (or customer?) was sought out by his wife).
I'm not terribly fond of the sub-plot the book is spinning off on; I'm much more interested in the outdoor exploits of Tayo and Josiah than Josiah's love life.

Tasha's 4th (?) Blog Post

I have to say that the book is becoming marginally more interesting. We are starting to get more information on Tayo's non-war past. I'm finding all of his relationships very intriguing. Tayo and Auntie seem to have come to some sort of compromise: He has accepted that she will never let him belong fully, and she has accepted that he is not going away. Auntie is quickly becoming one of my least favorite characters just because of how she treats Tayo and how conscious she is of avoiding gossip and “shame”. (She has officially overtaken Tayo!) Rocky and Tayo's relationship is very interesting. Rocky obviously loved Tayo and he unconsciously drifted away from Auntie, yet he only referred to him as “brother” once. I find that rather odd, do you guys? Tayo and Josiah's relationship is also very interesting, but I'm a little biased because I think that Joshia is adorable (even if he likes prostitutes).
One of the other characters that I find kind of interesting is Night Swan. A Mexican dancer, she is an example of an empowered woman. Is she supposed to sure as a contrast to Laura, Tayo's fairly weak mother? Also, she is Mexican – not Indian. Shouldn't there be more antagonism towards her?
My favorite quote from this reading shows that Tayo is still connected to his Indian roots. “They rode south with the sun climbing up in the east, making the sky bright, almost blinding. There were no clouds and the air still smelled cool. He wanted to remember the morning, bright and clear as the leaves on the little green plants which grew low and close to the sandy ground. It had the clarity of the sky after a summer rainstorm, when the dust was washed away, and the colors of the hills and the shadows of the mesas had an intensity which made everything he saw accessible, as if he could touch all of it, even the little green rabbit weed growing close to the sand, its tiny leaves clustered like stars.” (78-79) This was just a very beautiful description of the landscape that I liked.

# 3 Jessica

So I am still enjoying the book so far. I feel that Rocky is super ashamed of being Indian because he does not even do the deer ceremony which the book says even those who are not that involved with the Indian heritage still go through the deer ceremony. Tayo is becoming even better of a guy because of how he follows the deer ceremony and how in tuned he is with the world. Like how he appreciates nature and thinks that humans revolve around it and how he is the only one who understands Auntie. I think he has a better understanding of everything compared to the others in the story. The bar scene with Tayo and Emo was pretty intense. Killing sickens Tayo and he can’t even stand to see the enemies being killed. Now Emo is a jerk and thinks killing is a blast and I think the Silko uses Emo to highlight how much killing and taking away life affects Tayo.
Quotes
“Tayo and Auntie understood each other very well. Years later Tayo wondered if anyone, even old Grandma or Josiah, ever understood her as well as he did.” (pg 67)
“’You drink like an Indian, and you’re crazy like one too- but you aren’t shit, whit trash. You love Japs the way your mother loved to screw white men” (pg 63)
Sorry about the last part but these quotes are kind of what I am talking about how good hearted Tayo is and how in tune he is with his surroundings.