Overall, Ida is a self conscious, strong, and caring woman. Aunt Ida is judged all of her life because of her looks. No one ever stops to think about the hardships she has experienced throughout her lifetime. At the beginning of the novel, one believes Ida is a cruel, heartless, old woman who isn’t close to her family. She forces her daughter Christine and granddaughter Rayona to call her Aunt Ida. Then, Christine reveals how distant her mother’s relationship is with her. Ida reveals Christine isn’t her daughter, but her half-sister and cousin. She pretends Christine is her baby, so her family doesn’t become scrutinized for Ida’s father sleeping with her aunt Clara. This demonstrates how strong and caring Ida is for the ones she loves. She
…show more content…
One symbol is the yellow raft in Bearpaw Lake Park. It is an escape for Rayona from her troubling life. When traveling with Father Tom to a youth group conference, the two stop and rest at Bearpaw Lake Park. Rayona discovers the yellow raft in the blue water and swims straight towards it. When Rayona reaches the raft, “I pull myself over the sides and lie on the sun-warmed dry boards, panting and soaking up the heat. The silence is wide as the sky, brushed only with the sound of splashes striking the beams under the platform” (59). Laying on the yellow raft symbolizes escape for Rayona and gives her feelings of peace and serenity. It relieves her from the troubles she must face in her life. For one moment, Rayona discovers her true identity, but shortly after laying on the raft, the moment is …show more content…
In the beginning yellow is associated with Christine’s failure. As a child some kids bet Christine wouldn’t walk across a natural bridge. At first, she believes it is going to be easy, “I laughed at him and thought it was an easy thing, but once I climbed I saw that the yellow rock was so thin and cracked it could break in a fast wind” (147). This is the stage in Christine’s life where she is trying to find her identity. Before this moment she identifies herself as a daredevil, but after this traumatizing experience she realizes it’s not who she is. Christine fails to cross the bridge and is ashamed of herself. The yellow on the bridge symbolizes Christine’s failure and encourages her to move on to the next stage of her
One symbol is the yellow raft in Bearpaw Lake Park. It is an escape for Rayona from her troubling life. When traveling with Father Tom to a youth group conference, the two stop and rest at Bearpaw Lake Park. Rayona discovers the yellow raft in the blue water and swims straight towards it. When Rayona reaches the raft, “I pull myself over the sides and lie on the sun-warmed dry boards, panting and soaking up the heat. The silence is wide as the sky, brushed only with the sound of splashes striking the beams under the platform” (59). Laying on the yellow raft symbolizes escape for Rayona and gives her feelings of peace and serenity. It relieves her from the troubles she must face in her life. For one moment, Rayona discovers her true identity, but shortly after laying on the raft, the moment is …show more content…
In the beginning yellow is associated with Christine’s failure. As a child some kids bet Christine wouldn’t walk across a natural bridge. At first, she believes it is going to be easy, “I laughed at him and thought it was an easy thing, but once I climbed I saw that the yellow rock was so thin and cracked it could break in a fast wind” (147). This is the stage in Christine’s life where she is trying to find her identity. Before this moment she identifies herself as a daredevil, but after this traumatizing experience she realizes it’s not who she is. Christine fails to cross the bridge and is ashamed of herself. The yellow on the bridge symbolizes Christine’s failure and encourages her to move on to the next stage of her