A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris is a novel that draws us into the lives of a Native American family who have been quite deceiving of each other. The story flips through three different perspectives on the same timeline. It starts with the youngest person and moves to the oldest by the end. All three characters hide something from each other and don’t quite trust each other while still living very close together. Combined, these three characters present a complete story to us while keeping the other characters in the dark about what is really going on in their lives. Starting with the youngest child, Rayona, we see that she doesn’t know much about her past. She had a pretty normal childhood but never told much about her or her family. She is taken care of by
…show more content…
This causes her to run away, leaving aunt Ida and Rayona together. Rayona spends a lot of time at the local mission and after being asked if she wants to go to a local jamboree, she says yes. Her and the minister get to the place early so they go swimming, and the minister makes a move toward her. He feels embarrassed and says that they are going to go home. She goes back to Aunt Ida’s house feeling lost and confused. She trusted that minister and he almost took advantage of her. The story then moves onto Christine’s story where it is very similar to Rayona’s because her mother Ida doesn't share much about their past. Christine lives a very happy life until she gets pregnant, right before her husband is sent off to war. At war he goes missing and is later announced KIA. Everyone in the town thinks it’s her fault for telling her husband to go to war, so to help her child grow up in a more conducive environment she sends her to her mom’s place to live for a while until she finds her real mother in the hospital. The third character is Ida, and she is the mother of
This causes her to run away, leaving aunt Ida and Rayona together. Rayona spends a lot of time at the local mission and after being asked if she wants to go to a local jamboree, she says yes. Her and the minister get to the place early so they go swimming, and the minister makes a move toward her. He feels embarrassed and says that they are going to go home. She goes back to Aunt Ida’s house feeling lost and confused. She trusted that minister and he almost took advantage of her. The story then moves onto Christine’s story where it is very similar to Rayona’s because her mother Ida doesn't share much about their past. Christine lives a very happy life until she gets pregnant, right before her husband is sent off to war. At war he goes missing and is later announced KIA. Everyone in the town thinks it’s her fault for telling her husband to go to war, so to help her child grow up in a more conducive environment she sends her to her mom’s place to live for a while until she finds her real mother in the hospital. The third character is Ida, and she is the mother of