Native American Culture In The Shawl

A look at the three works, thematically we are brought to the realization of the unspoken Native American culture. An unstated theme of these stories could be the plight of the American Indians and their struggles in the past under the European Colonialism and the conflicts therein with the establishment of a better future. In the Shawl, the healing and restoration theme can be translated by the fact that after the excessive trauma suffered by the narrator’s father, he finally accepts to move beyond the trauma of his childhood (Erdrich, 2014). The narrator relates the story of his grandfather being left by his grandmother who had fallen in love with another man. Eventually, she leaves with the narrator’s aunt. The narrator’s father is heart …show more content…
Thomas parents died while he was young in a fire from which he was saved by Victor’s father. Later on after the tragedy, Victor walks out on his family, and both end up being raised without father figures. The two men don’t get along well as both have a different view on victors father. Victor remembers an alcoholic who never had time for his family while Thomas remembers a great man who saved his life. Victor is also portrayed as a character with much anger not only to his father but towards strangers too. This gradually changes (heals) as he is forced to accept the help of a friend he never allowed to help him …show more content…
Without having enough money to travel home, he turns for help from Thomas. They strike a deal that sees both men come to terms and agree to cooperate. Victor is seen to learn to overcome his anger and animosity towards his father and acknowledging the fact that he had both positive and negative traits. Thus, by the two friends able to agree once again and the fact that Victor was willing to return home, where he embraces his mother and begins a new chapter in their mother-son relationship, means that the end of the film shows clearly there were healing and restoration theme in it.
In the last story, Alexei’s ‘’what you pawn I will redeem’’, talks of a man (Jackson) who embarks on a journey to reclaim a stolen powwow regalia. The story unfolds into a journey towards fulfillment and personal identity. It is through the journey that he meets friends who help in filling the details of his life as well as his character. The story creates a character that has to live with being homeless yet his kinds were close to him (Alexie,