Introduction
“All these stories that we haven’t been telling all this time, that we haven’t been listening to, are just part of what we need to heal. Not that we’re broken” (Orange 137). This excellent use of irony demonstrates why Tommy Orange’s “There There” is a stylistic, form, and storytelling voice masterwork. Orange emphasizes that Indigenous people want recovery from past trauma and its continuing effects, but they are not ill; instead, the western imperialism that caused this trauma is ill and cries out for a remedy. In a broad sense, this form of writing allows Orange to examine the difficulties that Native American tribes have faced throughout time. Ultimately, the author incorporates a range of literary techniques and depicts topics and civilizations to connect with the audience, ensuring that the characters’ stories are effectively conveyed.
Symbolism
Spiders and the Web
Throughout the novel, the author adopts a variety of standard instruments and other objects in the community as symbols to make the delivery of the novel effective. Some characters employed include spiders, feathers, and the buses and BART trains. The mother of Opal narrates that spiders carry many miles of webs within them; the webs act as both the home of the spider and also the trap for its prey. She says that humans are more like the web because they can offer themselves comfort or misery, and it all depends on the individual. The spider and its web have been used to signify the problems of addiction, memory, and ignorance that some notable characters face. While addictions offer pleasures, they are traps that have impacted the lives of some of the characters in the novel.
Jacquie Red Feather is one of the central characters the author has used to portray the essence of symbolism. She is an alcoholic struggling to quit and stay sober, using her mother’s speech to remain sober. For instance, during the professional conference, she is shown to be struggling to stay sober, this being her eleventh day (Orange 78). She is tempted to drink the alcohol in the minibar of her hotel room. However, when she looks at the tattoos on her feet, she is reminded of her mother’s words, reinforcing her resistance against the urge to drink. Jacquie portrays the aspect of trap because despite attending the conference that guides addicts, she is still barely unable to manage her cravings; she is trapped in addiction.
Orvil Red Feather is another character the author uses to portray symbolism; he lives with his guardian and is provided for all his needs. Opal is his great-aunt and thus is entitled to dictate everything he is involved in or takes an interest in (Carnes 237-240). Despite being given the best care and satisfaction by his guardian, Orvil is trapped; he is prohibited from searching or getting involved in anything concerned with his Native culture. His urge to learn about his culture has to be satisfied secretly or risk angering his guardian. As such, he turns to the internet when he begins to learn about the Native Americans (Orange 95). Furthermore, he is determined to understand the native dance for the powwow celebrations. Another form of symbolism used by Tommy is when Orvil pulls spiders from the lump on his leg (Orange 95). This happens at a time when he begins to desire his native culture, and it signifies that he has entered adulthood.
The spider had been trapped in the lump, but now it had been freed; this symbolizes how Orvil had begun breaking the trap and thus wanted to learn more about his cultural heritage. Opal also elaborates on how she found a spider in a lump when she was young after helping Jacquie to escape her abusive uncle (Orange 97). This signifies breaking the bondage trap and the onset of adulthood. As such, she was able to take care of Jacquie after rescuing her from her uncle. Similarly, Orvil had now become an adult and understood his native culture.
Feathers
Feathers are an essential part of the dancing regalia for all dancers, regardless of their sense of authenticity. All dancers have to where these feathers to look like the native people; this is symbolic that despite all the differences between the people, similarities unite the community. While Orvil is preparing for the dance, he learns that even the older dancers must wear their attire and feathers (Orange 232). This assures him that even though he feels distant from his culture, he shares something with the seasoned dancers since they all have to wear the attire. In addition, feathers are portrayed symbolically when Orvil is shot; he wishes to fly away with the feathers drained in the blood (Orange 271). This illustrates that the feathers symbolize wings that allow one to surpass the limitations of one’s cultural identity.
Themes
Storytelling
The author has extensively used the theme of storytelling among different characters to demonstrate the significance of stories in the native community. Even though the history of the Native Americans is painful to remember, it is inevitable to avoid the practice of storytelling and memory recall. Throughout the novel, most characters, if not all, are portrayed as lonely and without the desired connection to their cultural heritage. As such, they have retrieved stories and memories to keep their relationship to their culture. Different characters resolve to look for their cultural roots in different ways because they yearn for the connection; Orvil uses the internet to learn about his culture. Though unemployed, Edwin Black is determined to know more about his culture and even pursues a degree in Native American literature (Herman 31-53). Dene aspires to compile stories of his culture, thus preventing losing his culture. He believes that through these stories, his culture will be able to restore its resilience and significance. He rarely cares about the type of story the interviewees; instead, he focuses on its impact on the members of the native community.
Irony
The author has adopted the element of irony in the novel, enabling him to emphasize the challenges and lives of different characters in the book. For instance, Opal’s mother explains that spiders carry many miles of webs within their bodies and act as the homes for the spiders and as traps for their prey (Orange 163). Ironically, the same nets that serve as the shelter and safe ground for spiders can also be traps and dangerous environments for other creatures. Additionally, the aspect of contradiction is portrayed by Blue and her marriage; typically, a home is where one is ensured of safety and security against intruders and other dangers (Shotton 56-61). Nonetheless, the case is different for Blue because she spends the better part of her life looking for her native family, only to be trapped in an abusive marriage from which she is forced to escape for her safety.
Throughout the novel, the author emphasizes the oppression and poor treatment of Native Americans by White Americans. Over many years, the White Americans have subjected many members of the native tribes to misery and massacres over their owned initial lands (Orange 13). Reservations were established, and these tribes were forced to live in the reservations, denying their cultural practice of migrating with the seasons. The author also elaborates on the devastating results of the oppression and colonialism of the Native Americans (Forbes 17-23). The aspect of irony is portrayed in the fact that many films have been produced and directed by White Americans; these films neglect the history of oppression that the white subjected the native tribes. Some of these films show white Americans playing Indigenous characters, while others show how reservations have been developed to preserve native culture, contrary to the actual effect.
The irony is also shown when a White person begins to explain to Dene the meaning of the quotes of Gertrude Stein. Essentially Gertrude writes about the challenges and misery that the Native tribes have endured due to the effect of White oppression. Ironically, a white person knows more about these challenges than Dene, a Native Indian. Native culture is threatened with extinction, as many such organizations have dedicated their resources to preserve it. Cultural celebrations are held in high esteem since they allow people to come together and celebrate their way of life and learn about their past. Nonetheless, it is ironic how Octavio pretends to care and learn about his culture while he plans to rob the Powwow (Orange 24). He even goes to Fina, who advises him on coping with loss and how to make a medicine box (Orange 134). The appreciation for that Octavio show is hypocritical since he plans to execute a raid for personal gain.
Authenticity and Cultural Identity
The author has effectively portrayed the aspect of authenticity through different characters in the novel. Throughout the book, other characters are shown to question their legitimacy as members of the Native American tribes. Some of these characters doubt their legibility as native people because of their physical appearance. For instance, Dene is afraid that the interviewers may fail to recognize him as a Native American because of his pale skin and, thus, consequently, deny his application. Furthermore, Calving refuses to speak about his culture since he does not have a story about his origin (Orange 183). The quest for authenticity can easily be seen as the plot developers for the novel, and this is because the levels of most characters are developed on their quests to find their native roots. As such, they fear putting a claim to their cultural identity since they feel inadequate. Through this, the author can reconnect with the target audience and emphasize the importance of determining one’s origin. Blue barely understands her cultural identity, having lived with her white adoptive family from childhood. When she learns her biological mother’s name, she begins to search.
The search leads Blue to Oklahoma, where she is married and given a native name; nevertheless, her husband is abusive, resulting in her escape (Orange 174). Despite the abuse, she continues to search for her mother and her native family, and thus her arrival at the Powwow. Subsequently, her yearning to belong to the community culminates in her becoming the chairperson of the powwow committee. Another character wrestling with their identity is Edwin Black; he lives with his White mother and is unemployed (Orange 174). He is introduced as a person suffering from constipation; this can be interpreted literary and literarily, illustrating how he has held back his urge to look for his birth father. He is persistent in his efforts to know who his father is and thus spends most of his time on the internet. The author uses cultural identity and authenticity to demonstrate empathy for individuals who struggle with the sense of belonging to a particular group of people hence an identical crisis. Furthermore, he shows how belonging to a community is significant to the well-being of an individual.
Conclusion
Tommy Orange employed different literary elements in his novel, ‘There There.’These elements have been essential in creating a connection with the audience. These features include symbols and motifs, irony, cultural identity, and storytelling; these themes were developed through the stories of the different characters. The author has used symbols like feathers, spiders, and the web; spiders produce webs that function as both the home and a trap for their prey. Similarly, people may derive pleasure from things that have trapped them, like alcohol addiction and families. Blue is trapped in an abusive marriage which she entered while looking for a cultural connection. Through these features, the author could effectively articulate his audience’s needs.
Works Cited
Carnes, Jeremy M. Review of There, There, by Tommy Orange, and: Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson. Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 31 no. 1, 2019, p. 237–240. Project MUSE. Web.
Forbes, Jack. “Colonialism and Native American Literature: Analysis.” Wicazo Sa Review, vol. 3, no. 2, 1987, pp. 17–23. JSTOR, Web.
Herman, Matthew. “Four More Indigenous Projects for the Native American Humanities.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 31 no. 1, 2019, p. 31–53. Project MUSE. Web.
Orange, Tommy. There There: A novel. Vintage, 2018.
Shotton, Heather J. “Resisting the Violence through Writing: A Conversation with Tommy Orange.” World Literature Today, vol. 93, no. 4, 2019, pp. 56–61. JSTOR, Web.