Mary Tallmountain: A Literary Analysis

The fact that we are extraordinarily different makes us unique. Embracing what makes us dissimilar while others tend to feel uncomfortable becomes an advantage in today's society. “You Can Go Home Again: A Sequence” by Mary TallMountain, and “Waiting at the Edge: Words toward a Life” by Maurice Kenny both focus on a search for identity. Both individuals discover a sense of identity despite the harsh experiences at school, because of the influence of their fathers, and due to their profound love for writing. TallMountain experienced tremendous bullying at school. TallMountain stated, “I refused to go to school because my school mates mocked my Indianness” (6). TallMountain’s childhood shattered due to all the shameful remarks made by her peers. A school should be a safe zone, a place of welcome, not an establishment that scares children off. In most cases, a school becomes a place where children would engage with their classmates to form a bond of friendship. However, TallMountain never experienced that because she got teased and laughed at by …show more content…
TallMountain once mentioned,“I had an obligation to myself and my peers to use it constructively to rebuild, perhaps, some part of the world I live in” (8). She felt a sense of commitment to herself, and she felt responsible for a change in society. She wanted a practical yet worthwhile modification in the community. She aspired to restore the beauty and innocence of the earth by remaking a community that isn’t judgmental. She planned to change the world through her writing, and she wants her voice to impact society. Her goal motivated her to push through to whatever she wants to do. She believed that finding her inner peace is a duty to herself that will serve as an advantage in writing. Her writing made her explore a sense of belonging in a world full of what ifs, and she knew exactly what she had to do to have a significance to