Aunt Moon’s Young Man, Incarnation, Mending Wall We start with a short story about an intelligent Native-American woman having non-traditional values that has found love In Linda Hogan’s “Aunt Moon’s Young Man”. The plot itself is relatively simple: A dark, lean, full-blooded Indian, who comes to town on an autumn day just as the annual fair is about to begin, he excites the women with his exotic good looks as well as the fact that the man is "alive in his whole body." It’s easy to see that the recurring character of nature brings reassurance that balance will prevail; this author incorporates several cycles to represent this balance such as the story beginning in the autumn and ending in the autumn. The annual fair anchors the narrative at
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The narrator gives us her own personal view of the woman that differs from any of the others in the town. This girl describes Aunt Moon as a woman who is her own person and does not follow the socially accepted role of women. For example, the narrator wrote, “Aunt Moon with her second sight and heavy breasts managed to break all the rules. She threw her head and laughed out loud, showing off the worn edges of her teeth. She didn’t go to church. She did a man’s work, cared for animals, and chopped her own wood” (Hogan 1991). It is interesting how the others judgement had no bearing on the girl’s admiration for Aunt Moon. This story describes the typical small town as there is always a person that causes a great deal of chatter just because they have a different lifestyle. Today it is a little different as the level of conformity has decreased yet is still present. The women avoided Aunt Moon on the street. The author sends the gossips scurrying “like swallows swooping into their small clay nests.” The swooping motion conveys the women’s fear of the unique and sometimes influential Aunt Moon. The small clay nests represent the narrowness of the women’s minds and the lives they live. The girl found confidence and encouragement from Aunt Moon because she was different from the society they lived in. The girl spoke highly of Aunt Moon. She said “Aunt Moon was special. She had life in her” (Hogan 1991). In order for people to stray from the norm sometimes they need an example to follow. The example of another person who is satisfied and willing to stand up for who they are despite the negative labels that can be given. Stepping outside of our society’s comfort zone will allow us all to become people could aspire another person who is looking for
The narrator gives us her own personal view of the woman that differs from any of the others in the town. This girl describes Aunt Moon as a woman who is her own person and does not follow the socially accepted role of women. For example, the narrator wrote, “Aunt Moon with her second sight and heavy breasts managed to break all the rules. She threw her head and laughed out loud, showing off the worn edges of her teeth. She didn’t go to church. She did a man’s work, cared for animals, and chopped her own wood” (Hogan 1991). It is interesting how the others judgement had no bearing on the girl’s admiration for Aunt Moon. This story describes the typical small town as there is always a person that causes a great deal of chatter just because they have a different lifestyle. Today it is a little different as the level of conformity has decreased yet is still present. The women avoided Aunt Moon on the street. The author sends the gossips scurrying “like swallows swooping into their small clay nests.” The swooping motion conveys the women’s fear of the unique and sometimes influential Aunt Moon. The small clay nests represent the narrowness of the women’s minds and the lives they live. The girl found confidence and encouragement from Aunt Moon because she was different from the society they lived in. The girl spoke highly of Aunt Moon. She said “Aunt Moon was special. She had life in her” (Hogan 1991). In order for people to stray from the norm sometimes they need an example to follow. The example of another person who is satisfied and willing to stand up for who they are despite the negative labels that can be given. Stepping outside of our society’s comfort zone will allow us all to become people could aspire another person who is looking for