Talking To The Owls And Butterflies Summary

In the article “Talking to the Owls and Butterflies”, John Fire Lame Deer discusses how Indians and Whites see nature from completely different aspects. Indians embrace nature. The visual image I chose shows all aspects of nature that Lame Deer states Indians appreciate: the peaceful outdoors, the wildlife within it, and the Great Spirit (624). The white man, on the other hand, looks at a forest and sees raw resources to build a luxury home. He takes what once was a wildlife animal and turns it into a tamed pet or butchers it for “nourishment”. He covers the natural odor his body produces with expensive cologne (625). Lame Deer makes these strong accusations of whites through the use of second person to draw the reader’s attention.
Lame Deer uses second person to make the reader feel as though he is talking directly to them. He repeatedly uses the phrase “you have” to make the reader feel personally responsible for the things he accuses Whites of doing. The repetition of the phrase “you have” also helps to establish and emphasize an acrimonious tone. For example, Lame Deer states “You have raped and violated these lands.” (625). Lame Deer’s use of diction for the words “raped” and “violated” add a negative connotation to deforestation. The fact that Lame Deer chose to describe how Whites have taken acres of land in such a vivid and …show more content…
He again refers to the Great Spirit when making his claim. Through the use of imagery, he describes how Whites receive their meat “in a neat plastic bag” (626). Whites do not go out into nature and kill for their meat like Indians. When Indians kill an animal for food, they do so in a spiritual way. Lame Deer describes the process of the spiritual way in which Indians kill to make the reader sympathize with animals more (626). He also includes how Whites kill to make the reader realize that the way in which they kill animals is